CSC/ECE 506 Spring 2012/12a mt

Interconnection Network Topologies

Introduction

In a multiprocessor environment, the terms interconnection network usually refers to the links between multiple independent processors. There are several different network topologies that are selected based upon the unique characteristics for which a system requires. For example, in a shared memory multiprocessor, messages generally are: short, frequent, and make it hard for processors to hide the message communication delay; therefore, shared memory multiprocessors prefer interconnection networks that have low latency and high bandwidth. While latency and bandwidth are two very important factors an interconnection network, there are plenty of other factors to consider: coherence protocol, memory consistency, communication protocols, etc. In order to better understand the unique aspects and characteristics that are considered for an interconnection network, we will discuss certain examples of interconnection topologies that were researched then abandoned, as well as recent developments in networks for large scale multiprocessor systems.