Scalable Computing System with Two-Level Reconfiguration of Multi-channel Inter-Node Communication

The paper presents the architecture and organization of a reconfigurable inter-node communication system based on hierarchical embedding and logical multi-buses. The communication environment is a physical network with a bus topology or its derivatives (e.g. folded buses, mesh and toroidal bus network). In the system, multi-channel communication is forced through the use of tunable signal receivers/transmitters, with the buses or their derivatives being completely passive. In the physical environment, logical components (nodes, channels, paths) are distinguished on the basis of which logical connection networks separated from each other are created. The embedding used for this purpose is fundamentally different from the previous interpretations of this term. Improvement of communication and computational efficiency is achieved by changing the physical network architecture (e.g. the use of folded bus topologies, 2D and 3D networks), as well as the logical level by grouping system elements (processing nodes and bus channels) or their division. As a result, it is possible to ensure uniformity of communication and computational loads of system components. To enable formal design of the communication system, a method of hierarchy description and selection of its organization was proposed. In addition, methods of mathematical notation of bus topologies and the scope of their applications were analyzed. The work ends with a description of simulations and empirical research on the effectiveness of the proposed solutions. There is high flexibility of use and relatively low implementation price.