Semi-User-Level Communication Architecture

This paper introduces semi-user-level communication architecture, a new high-performance light-weighted communication architecture for inter-node communication of clusters. Different from traditional kernel-level networking architecture and user-level communication architecture, semi-user-level communication architecture removes OS kernel from its message-receiving path while reserves an OS trapping on its message-sending path. No interrupt handling is needed. This new communication architecture doesn’t support user-level access to network interface. It provides good portability, security, and support for heterogeneous networking environment and usage of large memory. Semi-user-level communication architecture has been implemented on a SMP workstation cluster system called DAWNING-3000, which is interconnected through Myrinet. Communication performance results are given and overhead distribution is analyzed.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2002
• Where: IPPS
• Authors: Dan Meng, Jie Ma, Jin He, Limin Xiao, Zhiwei Xu
• Keywords: Communication Architecture, Distributed And Parallel Computing, IPPS 2002, Light-weighted Communication Architecture, Semi-user-level Communication Architecture