Multicomputer Networks: Message-Based Parallel Processing

High-performance message-based supercomputers have only recently emerged from theresearch laboratory. The commercial manufacturing of such products as the Intel iPSC, the Ameteks/14, the NCUBE/ten, and the FPS T Series - all based on multicomputer network technology - hassparked lively interest in high-performance computation, and particularly in the message-passingparadigm for parallel computation.This book makes readily available information on many aspects ofthe design and use of multicomputer networks, including machine organization, system software, andapplication programs. It provides an introduction to the field for students and researchers and asurvey of important recent results for practicing engineers. The emphasis throughout is on designprinciples and techniques; however, there are also descriptions and comparison of research andcommercial machines and case studies of specific applications.Multicomputer Networks covers suchmajor design areas as communication hardware, operating systems, fault tolerance, algorithms, andthe selection of network topologies. The authors present results in each of these areas, emphasizinganalytic models of interconnection networks, VLSI constraints and communication, communicationparadigms and hardware support, multicomputer operating systems, and applications for distributedsimulation and for partial differential equations. They survey the hardware designs and theavailable software and present a comparative performance study of existing machines.