Basic HTML version of Foils prepared 21 October 1995

Foil 14 Glossary of Useful Concepts in Communication Systems

From New CPS615 Foils-- B 28 August 95 CPS615 Basic Simulation Track for Computational Science -- Fall Semester 95. by Geoffrey C. Fox


Useful terms include:
Scalability: Can network be extended to very large systems? Related to wire length (synchronization and driving problems), degree (pinout)
Fault Tolerance: How easily can system bypass faulty processor, memory, switch, or link? How much of system is lost by fault?
Blocking: Some communication requests may not get through, due to conflicts caused by other requests.
Nonblocking: All communication requests succeed. Sometimes just applies as long as no two requests are for same memory cell or processor.
Latency (delay): Maximal time for nonblocked request to be transmitted.
Bandwidth: Maximal total rate (MB/sec) of system communication, or subsystem-to-subsystem communication. Sometimes determined by cutsets, which cut all communication between subsystems. Often useful in providing lower bounds on time needed for task.



© on Tue Oct 7 1997