Dynamic reconfiguration of multicomputer networks: limitations and tradeoffs

The dynamic reconfiguration of the interconnection network is an advanced feature of some multicomputers to reduce the communication overhead. Up to now, the work carried out in this field has focused on static switching, i.e., the network changes its topology before starting the execution of a phase of an application program and then it remains constant throughout the phase execution. However, the authors´ work focuses on true dynamic reconfiguration, i.e., the network topology can change almost arbitrarily at runtime. In a previous paper (see Garcia and Duato, 1991), they presented an algorithm to handle the dynamic reconfiguration and some simulation results, showing the benefits achieved by this reconfiguration algorithm. In this paper, they expound in depth the reconfiguration algorithm and the different concepts related to it. The previous work is analyzed and compared with their algorithm, showing the improvements achieved