The Impact of Pipelined Channels on k-ary n-Cube Networks

  • Authors:
  • S. L. Scott;J. R. Goodman

  • Affiliations:
  • -;-

  • Venue:
  • IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems
  • Year:
  • 1994

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Abstract

In a pipelined-channel interconnection network, multiple bits may be simultaneously inflight on a single wire. This allows the cycle time of the network to be independent of thewire lengths, significantly affecting the network design trade-offs. This paper investigatesthe design and performance of pipelined channel k-ary n-cube networks, with particularemphasis on the choice of dimensionality and radix. Networks are investigated under theconstant link width, constant node size and constant bisection constraints. We find thatthe optimal dimensionality of pipelined-channel networks is higher than that ofnonpipelined-channel networks, with the difference being greater under looser wiringconstraints. Their radix should remain roughly constant as network size is grown,decreasing slightly for some unidirectional tori and increasing slightly for some bi-directional meshes. Pipelined-channel networks are shown to provide lower latency and higher bandwidth than their nonpipelined-channel counterparts, especially for high-dimensional networks. The paper also investigates the effects of switching overhead and message lengths, indicating where results agree with and differ from previous results obtained for nonpipelined-channel networks.