Lookahead networks

  • Authors:
  • G. Jack Lipovski;Ambuj Goyal;Miroslaw Malek

  • Affiliations:
  • University of Texas, Austin, Texas;University of Texas, Austin, Texas;University of Texas, Austin, Texas

  • Venue:
  • AFIPS '82 Proceedings of the June 7-10, 1982, national computer conference
  • Year:
  • 1982

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Abstract

A fail-soft and easily reconfigurable interconnection network is proposed that can function like a bus or like a shift register ring. Its performance as a bus exceeds the performance of an Ethernet, and its performance as a ring is similar to that of a distributed local computer network (DLCN). It can be reconfigured to a sufficient degree to prune out faults or to partition the network into subnetworks that can use possibly different protocols that are the most suitable for the subnetwork. Its multiple-level priority arbitration appears very useful for mixed voice-data networks, to give guaranteed response times to voice packets. Finally, though it functions like a bus or shift register ring, it is physically connected like a tree; so its cost is linear and delay is logarithmic with the number of processors in the network, and it is relatively easy to install in a building by using practices similar to those used in telephone line networks. This paper describes functions of network-level and some data link and physical-level protocols and develops several key mechanisms to achieve ease of diagnosis and fail-softness.