Teleport messaging for distributed stream programs

In this paper, we develop a new language construct to address one of the pitfalls of parallel programming: precise handling of events across parallel components. The construct, termed teleport messaging, uses data dependences between components to provide a common notion of time in a parallel system. Our work is done in the context of the Synchronous Dataflow (SDF) model, in which computation is expressed as a graph of independent components (or actors) that communicate in regular patterns over data channels. We leverage the static properties of SDF to compute a stream dependence function, sdep, that compactly describes the ordering constraints between actor executions. Teleport messaging utilizes sdep to provide powerful and precise event handling. For example, an actor A can specify that an event should be processed by a downstream actor B as soon as B sees the “effects” of the current execution of A. We argue that teleport messaging improves readability and robustness over ex...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: PPOPP
• Authors: William Thies, Michal Karczmarek, Janis Sermulins, Rodric M. Rabbah, Saman P. Amarasinghe
• Keywords: Distributed And Parallel Computing, Language Constructs, PPOPP 2005, Synchronous Dataflow, Teleport Messaging