Efficient adaptive routing in networks of workstations with irregular topology

A Comparison of Router Architectures for Virtual Cut-Through and Wormhole Switching in a NOW Environment

“…Regardless of where decisions are taken, a routing algorithm must determine the path to be followed. Several deadlock-free routing algorithms [18,2,9,16] and two general methodologies for the design of adaptive routing algorithms for irregular networks [21,22] have been proposed. The routing algorithm for wormhole switching used in the performance evaluation section results from the application of one of these methodologies.…”

“…Recently, a general methodology for the design of adaptive routing algorithms for networks with irregular topology has been proposed in [21,22]. Physical links are split into two virtual channels called the original and the new channels.…”

“…Similarly to multicomputer networks, the use of virtual channels and adaptive routing increases performance. However, this increase is much higher in a network of workstations than in a multicomputer [21,22]. The reason is that irregular network topologies lead to poor and unbalanced link utilization when the routing algorithm is not fully adaptive.…”

Improving routing performance in Myrinet networks

“…In previous works [8,9], we analyzed the behavior of distributed routing algorithms in irregular topologies, showing that adaptive routing schemes outperform up*/down* routing schemes by improving the routing flexibility and providing minimal paths. Therefore, it would be interesting to analyze the feasibility of implementing minimal routing in commercial networks and evaluate its behavior.…”

A comparison of router architectures for virtual cut-through and wormhole switching in a NOW environment

“…Such routing not only prevents deadlocks but also provides partial adaptivity. However, it is not always able to provide a minimal path between every pair of workstations [21].…”