Staged Circuit Switching for Network Computers.

Abstract

Staged circuit switching (SCS) is a message-switching technique that combines a new protocol with new communication hardware. Protocol and hardware are designed specifically for networks that are intended to function as integrated, general-purpose MIMD machines, i.e. for 'network computers'. The SCS protocol is a form of circuit-switching that degrades automatically into packet-switching when unavailable output lines make further extension of a partial circuit impossible. The SCS hardware uses a front-end crossbar switch to multiplex some small number of communication channels among all of a given node's incident links. Together, hardware and protocol represent an attempt to convert spare bandwidth into lower network delays. They also allow experimentation with networks that reconfigure themselves dynamically in response to measured traffic. We compare SCS to packet-switching, circuit switching and the 'virtual cut-through' protocol of Kermani and Kleinrock, and discuss an SCS implementation designed for the SBN network computer. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1982
Accession Number
ADA125748

Entities

People

  • Arthur Bernstein
  • David Gelernter
  • Mauricio Arango

Organizations

  • Stony Brook University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Communication Channels
  • Communication Systems
  • Computations
  • Computer Communications
  • Computer Networks
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Computing System Architectures
  • Data Transmission
  • Diameters
  • Grain Size
  • Network Architecture
  • Network Protocols
  • Network Topology
  • Packet Switching
  • Packets

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computer Networking
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Parallel and Distributed Computing.