Evaluating performance of interconnection networks in the task assignment viewpoint

Many kinds of multicomputer interconnection networks have been proposed so far, and evaluating the performance of such networks has been carried out in various ways. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of these networks from the task assignment (TA) viewpoint. In order for the optimal assignment to be found with less computing effort, the network should have a small configuration space for TA. This paper analyzes the character of configuration spaces quantitatively, and then compares the networks in terms of the effective sizes of their configuration spaces. To analyze the nature of the configuration space for TA, we introduce a new concept, called equivalent assignments, which is the key idea of this paper. As a result of this study, the hypercube is proved to be the best network, from the TA viewpoint, among some typical interconnection networks