A programmable routing controller for flexible communications in point-to-point networks

Daniel, S.W.; Rexford, Jennifer; Dolter, J.; Shin, Kang G.

doi:10.1109/iccd.1995.528828

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This section describes the Programmable Routing Controller (PRC), which is the main component of the flexible router and manages bidirectional communication with four other nodes, with three virtual channels on each unidirectional link. It has a high-performance, low-overhead interface, while implementing the switch as a high-speed, time-multiplexed bus [4], [25], [26]. Fabricated in the HP CMOS14 process, the PRC provides a single-chip solution for flexible routing in distributed and parallel networks.…”

Section: The Prc Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

A router architecture for flexible routing and switching in multihop point-to-point networks

Daniel

Shin

Yun

1999

IEEE Trans. Parallel Distrib. Syst.

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Modern parallel and distributed applications have a wide range of communication characteristics and performance requirements. These diverse characteristics affect the performance and suitability of particular routing and switching policies in multihop point-to-point networks. In this paper, we identify a core set of architectural features necessary for flexible selection and implementation of multiple routing and switching schemes. Using this, we present a flexible router whose routing and switching policies can be tailored to the application, allowing the network to meet these diverse needs. By dedicating a small programmable processor to each incoming link, we can implement wormhole, virtual cut-through, and packet switching, as well as hybrid switching schemes, each under a variety of unicast and multicast routing algorithms. In addition, a flexible router can support several applications or traffic types simultaneously, enabling better support of applications with multiple traffic classes. We have designed, implemented, and fabricated the Programmable Routing Controller (PRC). Cycle-level simulations of mesh-connected PRCs also demonstrate that flexible routing and switching can significantly enhance application performance.

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Section: The Prc Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

A router architecture for flexible routing and switching in multihop point-to-point networks

Daniel

Shin

Yun

1999

IEEE Trans. Parallel Distrib. Syst.

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“…The simulator includes a cycle-level model of the PRC [3], [16], a programmable routing controller for point-to-point distributed systems. As shown in Fig.…”

Section: Node Modulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, several recent router architectures support multiple routing or switching schemes simultaneously to tailor network policies to application performance requirements [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]. Evaluating and tuning such router designs requires special support in the network simulator.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Section 4 describes how this framework enables the evaluation of a variety of router models. Currently, pp-mess-sim includes a cycle-level model of the programmable routing controller (PRC) [16], a router for point-to-point distributed systems, as well as a general, higher-level router model. The simulator supports a broad spectrum of routing and switching schemes by decoupling them from the router models, as discussed in Section 5.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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pp-mess-sim: a flexible and extensible simulator for evaluating multicomputer networks

Rexford

Feng

Dolter

et al. 1997

IEEE Trans. Parallel Distrib. Syst.

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Abstract-This paper presents pp-mess-sim, an object-oriented discrete-event simulation environment for evaluating interconnection networks in message-passing systems. The simulator provides a toolbox of various network topologies, communication workloads, routing-switching algorithms, and router models. By carefully defining the boundaries between these modules, pp-mess-sim creates a flexible and extensible environment for evaluating different aspects of network design. The simulator models emerging multicomputer networks that can support multiple routing and switching schemes simultaneously; ppmess-sim achieves this flexibility by associating routing-switching policies, traffic patterns, and performance metrics with collections of packets, instead of the underlying router model. Besides providing a general framework for evaluating router architectures, ppmess-sim includes a cycle-level model of the PRC, a programmable router for point-to-point distributed systems. The PRC model captures low-level implementation details, while another high-level model facilitates experimentation with general router design issues. Sample simulation experiments capitalize on this flexibility to compare network architectures under various application workloads.

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Analysis and implementation of hybrid switching

Shin

Daniel

1996

IEEE Trans. Comput.

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Abstract-The switching scheme of a point-to-point network determines how packets flow through each node, and is a primary element in determining the networks performance. In this paper, we present and evaluate a new switching scheme called hybrid switching. Hybrid switching dynamically combines both virtual cut-through and wormhole switching to provide higher achievable throughput than wormhole alone, while significantly reducing the buffer space required at intermediate nodes when compared to virtual cut-through. This scheme is motivated by a comparison of virtual cut-through and wormhole switching through cycle-level simulations, and then evaluated using the same methods. To show the feasibility of hybrid switching, as well as to provide a common base for simulating and implementing a variety of routing and switching schemes, we have designed SPIDER, a communication adapter built around a custom ASIC called the Programmable Routing Controller (PRC).

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A programmable routing controller for flexible communications in point-to-point networks

Cited by 7 publications

References 18 publications

A router architecture for flexible routing and switching in multihop point-to-point networks

A router architecture for flexible routing and switching in multihop point-to-point networks

pp-mess-sim: a flexible and extensible simulator for evaluating multicomputer networks

Analysis and implementation of hybrid switching

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