Xiaola Lin

Deadlock-free multicast wormhole routing in 2-D mesh multicomputers

Multicast communication services, in which the same message is delivered from a source node to an arbitrary number of destination nodes, are being provided in new-generation multicomputers. Broadcast is a special case of multicast in which a message is delivered to all nodes in the network. The nCUBE-2, a wormhole-routed hypercube multicomputer, provides hardware support for broadcast and a restricted form of multicast in which the destinations form a subcube. However, the broadcast routing algorithm adopted in the nCUBE-2 is not deadlock-free. In this paper, four multicast wormhole routing strategies for 2-D mesh multicomputers are proposed and studied. All of the algorithms are shown to be deadlock-free. These are the first deadlock-free multicast wormhole routing algorithms ever proposed. A simulation study has been conducted that compares the performance of these multicast algorithms under dynamic network traffic conditions in a 2-D mesh. The results indicate that a dual-path routing algorithm offers performance advantages over tree-based, multipath, and fixed-path algorithms. >

Multicast communication in multicomputer networks

Efficient routing of messages is a key to the performance of multicomputers. Multicast communication refers to the delivery of the same message from a source node to an arbitrary number of destination nodes. While multicast communication is highly demanded in many applications, most of the existing multicomputers do not directly support this service; rather it is indirectly supported by multiple one-to-one or broadcast communications, which result in more network traffic and a waste of system resources. The authors study routing evaluation criteria for multicast communication under different switching technologies. Multicast communication in multicomputers is formulated as a graph theoretical problem. Depending on the evaluation criteria and switching technologies, they study three optimal multicast communication problems, which are equivalent to the finding of the following three subgraphs: optimal multicast path, optimal multicast cycle, and minimal Steiner tree, where the interconnection of a multicomputer defines a host graph. They show that all these optimization problems are NP-complete for the popular 2D-mesh and hypercube host graphs. Heuristic multicast algorithms for these routing problems are proposed. >

The message flow model for routing in wormhole-routed networks

In this paper, we introduce a new approach to deadlock-free routing in wormhole-routed networks called the message flow model. This method may be used to develop deterministic, partially-adaptive, and fully-adaptive routing algorithms for wormhole-routed networks with arbitrary topologies. We first establish the necessary and sufficient condition for deadlock free routing, based on the analysis of the message flow on each channel. We then use the model to develop new adaptive routing algorithms for 2D meshes. >

The Message Flow Model for Routing in Wormhole-Routed Networks

In this paper, we introduce a new approach to deadlock-free routing in wormhole-routed networks called the message flow model. We first establish the necessary and sufficient condition for deadlock-free routing based on the analysis of the message flow on each channel. We then show how to use the model to prove that a given adaptive routing algorithm is deadlock-free. Finally, we use the method to de¿ velop new, efficient adaptive routing algorithms for 2D meshes and hypercubes.

Deadlock-free multicast wormhole routing in multicomputer networks

Efficient routing of messages is the key to the performance of multicomputers. Multicast communication refers to the delivery of the same message from a source node to an arbitrary number of destination nodes. Wormhole routing is the most promising switching technique used in new generation multicomputers. In this paper, we present multicast wormhole routing methods for multicomputers adopting 2D-mesh and hypercube topologies. The dual-path routing algorithm requires less system resource, while the multipath routing algorithm creates less traffic. More import antly, both routing algorithms are deadlock-free, which is essential to wormhole networks.

Adaptive Multicast Wormhole Routing in 2D Mesh Multicomputers

We study the issues of adaptive multicast wormhole routing in 2D mesh multicomputers. Three adaptive multicast wormhole routing strategies are proposed and studied, which include minimal partial adaptive, minimal fully adaptive and nonminimal multicast routing methods. All the algorithms are shown to be deadlock-free. These are the first deadlock-free adaptive multicast wormhole routing algorithms ever proposed. A simulation study has been conducted that compares the performance of these multicast algorithms. The results show that the minimal fully adaptive routing method creates the least traffic, however, double vertical channels are required in order to avoid deadlock. The nonminimal routing algorithm exhibits the best adaptivity, although it creates more network traffic than the other methods.

Adaptive wormhole routing in hypercube multicomputers

We propose a uniform adaptive routing strategy for wormhole-routed hypercube networks that accommodates both unicast and multicast communication. Based on a node labeling method, the resultant routing algorithms are shown to be deadlock-free without requiring virtual channels. The order in which the destinations are visited is important to efficiency. We present an ordering algorithm, quadratic in the number of destinations, which is optimal in that it minimizes the traffic generated under the proposed paradigm. A greedy algorithm is also proposed for ordering the destinations, which requires less time and space to execute but creates more traffic than the optimal algorithm. Simulation results that evaluate the performance of the proposed routing algorithms are presented.<<ETX>>