E-Kernel: An Embedding Kernel on the IBM Victor V256 Multiprocessor for Program Mapping and Network Reconfiguration

• Authors: E. Ma;D. G. Shea
• Venue: IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems
• Year: 1994

We present the design of E-kernel, an embedding kernel on the Victor V256message-passing partitionable multiprocessor, developed for the support of programmapping and network reconfiguration. E-kernel supports the embedding of a new network topology onto Victor's 2D mesh and also the embedding of a task graph onto the 2D mesh network or the reconfigured network. In the current implementation, the reconfigured network can be a line or an even-size ring, and the task graphs meshes or tori of a variety of dimensions and shapes or graphs with similar topologies. For application programs having these task graph topologies and that are designed according to the communication model of E-kernel, they can be run without any change on partitions connected by the 2D mesh, line, or ring. Further, E-kernel attempts the communication optimization of these programs on the different networks automatically, thus making both the network topology and the communication optimization attempt completely transparent to the application programs. Many of the embeddings used in E-kernel are optimal or asymptotically optimal (with respect to minimum dilation cost). Theimplementation of E-kernel translated some of the many theoretical results in graphembeddings into practical tools for program mapping and network reconfiguration in aparallel system. E-kernel is functional on Victor V256. Measurements of E-kernel'sperformance on V256 are also included.