MPI Datatype Marshalling: A Case Study in Datatype Equivalence

MPI datatypes are a convenient abstraction for manipulating complex data structures and are useful in a number of contexts. In some cases, these descriptions need to be preserved on disk or communicated between processes, such as when defining RMA windows. We propose an extension to MPI that enables marshalling and unmarshalling MPI datatypes in the spirit of MPI_Pack/MPI_Unpack. Issues in MPI datatype equivalence are discussed in detail and an implementation of the new interface outside of MPI is presented. The new marshalling interface provides a mechanism for serializing all aspects of an MPI datatype: the typemap, upper/lower bounds, name, contents/envelope information, and attributes.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: PVM
• Authors: Dries Kimpe, David Goodell, Robert B. Ross
• Keywords: Complex Data Structures, Convenient Abstraction, Distributed And Parallel Computing, Mpi Datatype, PVM 2010