Array processor dotted communication network based on H-DOTs
First Claim
1. A parallel SIMD or MIMD array processor communication network, comprising:
- a plurality of processing elements interconnected in an array topology configuration, each of the processing elements having at least two ports for communication with other processing elements;
a plurality of physical links, each physical link providing an interconnection among four processing elements of said plurality of processing elements, said physical link having four ports respectively coupled to one of the ports for each of the four processing elements, and having a common low impedance connection among the four ports of the physical link such that any said one of the ports for each of the four processing elements is coupled by a low impedance path through said physical link to another one of the ports of the four processing elements over the physical link, and wherein said physical link is independent of providing a common, physical bus interconnection between a first, second, and third processing element for any identically specified direction and dimension relationship, according to the array topology, between the first and the second processing element and between the second and the third processing element; and
a communications control mechanism in each of the four processing elements operative in transferring a message from one of the four processing elements to another one of the four processing elements over the physical link.
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Abstract
A parallel processor array of the SIMD or MIMD type requires a highly organized communication network for communication between processing elements (PEs). For a communication network a dotted network structure is created which reduces the magnitude of the the networking implementation using a link with two vertical paths and two horizontal paths for a single link, denominated H-DOT. A significant result of the H-DOT network configuration is that it applies to several topologies, and furthermore, the array of processors can generally be extended in size and in additional dimensions while retaining the basic two port array processing element. Both synchronous and routed control can be included. Routing algorithm routines are discussed. The network configuration can be used in massively parallel processors or other smaller array processors which can implement SIMD and MIMD processes.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A parallel SIMD or MIMD array processor communication network, comprising:
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a plurality of processing elements interconnected in an array topology configuration, each of the processing elements having at least two ports for communication with other processing elements; a plurality of physical links, each physical link providing an interconnection among four processing elements of said plurality of processing elements, said physical link having four ports respectively coupled to one of the ports for each of the four processing elements, and having a common low impedance connection among the four ports of the physical link such that any said one of the ports for each of the four processing elements is coupled by a low impedance path through said physical link to another one of the ports of the four processing elements over the physical link, and wherein said physical link is independent of providing a common, physical bus interconnection between a first, second, and third processing element for any identically specified direction and dimension relationship, according to the array topology, between the first and the second processing element and between the second and the third processing element; and a communications control mechanism in each of the four processing elements operative in transferring a message from one of the four processing elements to another one of the four processing elements over the physical link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A parallel SIMD or MIMD array processor communication network, comprising:
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a plurality of processing elements interconnected in an array topology configuration, each of the processing elements having at least two ports for communication with other processing elements; a physical link providing an interconnection among four processing elements of said plurality of processing elements, said physical link having four ports respectively coupled to one of the ports for each of the four processing elements, and having a common low impedance connection among the four ports of the physical link such that any said one of the ports for each of the four processing elements is coupled by a low impedance path through said physical link to another one of the ports of the four processing elements over the physical link; and a communications control mechanism in each of the four processing elements operative in transferring a message of the synchronous type or of the routed type from one of the four processing elements to another one of the four processing elements over the physical link; wherein said communications control mechanism includes a routing algorithm executed by the processing elements for transferring messages of the routed type, wherein said routing algorithm comprises an ACCEPT routine, and a KEEP routine, wherein the routing ACCEPT routine of a processing element determines when the processing element should access a message on either of two ports of the processing element; and wherein one of said processing elements having a first address has ports to a multidimensional quadrant, and the routing ACCEPT routine accepts a message having a given address if the given address is either the first address of the processing element, or else an address of any processing element located in the multidimensional quadrant.
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Specification