A multi-level parallelism architecture

Abstract

This paper describes a parallel programming language and a multi-level parallelism computer architecture, which have been developed by an integrated design process.The ASTOR language is an imperative intermediate language that combines parallel control constructs with a concise module concept. The ASTOR architecture is directed towards reliable execution of programs written in the ASTOR language, utilizing five levels of parallelism expressed by the language constructs. Structure preservation has been applied as a major design principle. The architecture can be characterized as a message passing multiprocessor whose nodes consist of decoupled program flow control and data object processing parts, executing by token-passing similar to large-grain data flow architectures.

References

1. [1] Ungerer, T., Zehendner, E.: A Parallel Programming Language Directed Towards Top-Down Software Development. Proc. Int. Conference on Parallel Processing, Part II, pp. 122-125, St. Charles, Illinois, August 8-12, 1989.
2. [2] Zehendner, E., Ungerer, T.: A Module-Based Language for Parallel Programming. Proc. 10th Tunisian-French Seminar of Computer Science, pp. 77-89, Tunis, May 23-25, 1989.
3. [3] Zehendner, E., Ungerer, T.: The ASTOR Architecture. Proc. 7th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems, pp. 424-430, Berlin, September 21-25, 1987.
4. [4] Ungerer, T., Zehendner, E.: A Parallel Computer Architecture Directed Towards Modular Concurrent Programming. Proc. 8th SCCC Int. Conf. on Computer Science, Part VIII-C-40, pp. 81-88, Santiago de Chile, July 4-8, 1988.
5. [5] Zehendner, E.: Structure-Oriented Computer Architectures. Proc. 10th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems, pp. 344-351, Paris, May 28-June 1, 1990.
6. [6] Kennaway, J. R., Sleep, M. R.: The "Language First" Approach. In: Chambers, F. B., Duce, D. A., Jones, G. P. (eds.): Distributed Computing. pp. 111-124. New York: Academic Press 1984.
7. [7] Töpfer, H.-J., Ungerer, T., Zehendner, E.: Computer Architectures: A Case For Top-Down Design. Proc. IEEE Workshop on Future Trend of Distributed Computing Systems in the '90s, pp. 445-451, Hong Kong, Sep. 1988.
8. [8] Giloi, W. K., Behr, P.: Hierarchical Function Distribution - A Design Principle For Advanced Multicomputer Architectures. Proc. 10th International Symposium on Computer Architecture, pp. 318-325, Stockholm, 1983.
9. [9] Giloi, W. K., Berg, H. K.: Introducing the Concept of Data Structure Architectures. Proc. 1977 International Conference on Parallel Processing, pp. 44-51.
10. [10] Glueck-Hilltop, E., Ramlow, M., Schuerfeld, U.: The Stollmann Data Flow Machine. In: Odijk, E., Rem, M., Syre, J.-C. (Eds.): Proceedings PARLE '89, Parallel Architectures and Languages Europe, Eindhoven, June 1989, Vol. 1, pp. 433-457, Springer-Verlag LNCS 365.
11. [11] Evripidou, P., Gaudiot, J.-L.: The USC Decoupled Multilevel Data-Flow Execution Model. In: Gaudiot, J.-L., Bic, L. (Eds.): Advanced Topics in Data-Flow Computing, pp. 347-379, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs 1991.
12. [12] Dai, K., Giloi, W. K.: A Basic Architecture Supporting LGDF Computation. 1990 International Conference on Supercomputing, pp. 23-33, Amsterdam, June 11-15, 1990.
13. [13] Ungerer, T., Zehendner, E.: Language Abstractions for Concurrency Control. Proc. International Computer Science Conference '88, pp. 146-151, Hong Kong, December 19-21, 1988.
14. [14] Karp, A. H.: Programming for Parallelism. IEEE Computer, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 43-57, May 1987.
15. [15] Babb II, R. G.: Parallel Processing with Large-Grain Data Flow Techniques. IEEE Computer, pp. 55-61, May 1984.
16. [16] Giloi, W. K.: The Suprenum Architecture. Proc. CONPAR 88.
17. [17] Thompson, J. R.: The Cray-1, the Cray X-MP, the Cray-2 and Beyond: The Supercomputers of Cray Research. In: Fernbach, S. (Ed.): Supercomputers. North-Holland 1986.
18. [18] Purcell, C. J.: Introduction to the ETA¹⁰. In: Brebbia, C. A., Orszag, S. A. (Eds.): Supercomputers and Fluid Dynamics. Proceedings of the First Nobeyama Workshop, September 3-6, 1985, Springer-Verlag LNE 24.
19. [19] Test, J. A., Myszewski, M., Swift, R. C.: The Alliant FX/Series: A Language Driven Architecture for Parallel Processing of Dusty Deck Fortran. In: de Bakker, J. W., Nijman, A. J., Treleaven, P. C. (Eds.): Proc. PARLE, Eindhoven, June 1986, Vol. 1, Springer-Verlag, LNCS 258.
20. [20] Kuck, D. J., Davidson, E. S., Lawrie, D. H., Sameh, A. H.: Parallel Supercomputing Today and the Cedar Approach. Science, Vol. 231, pp. 967-974, February 28, 1986.
21. [21] Liskov, B., et al.: CLU Reference Manual. Springer-Verlag, LNCS 114, 1981.
22. [22] Kulisch, U. W., Miranker, W. L.: A New Approach to Scientific Computation. New York: Academic Press 1983.
23. [23] Zehendner, E., Haak, M.: Recent Improvements on the Concept of Conditional Critical Regions. Microprocessing and Microprogramming, Vol. 28, pp. 15-18, 1990.
24. [24] Giloi, W. K.: The DRAMA Principle and Data Type Architectures. In: Niedereichholz, J. (Ed.): Datenbank-technologie, pp. 81-100, Stuttgart: Teubner 1979.
25. [25] Arvind, Iannucci, R. A.: Two Fundamental Issues in Multiprocessing. In: Proc. DFVLR Conf. 1987 on Parallel Processing in Science and Engineering, pp. 61-88, Bonn, Germany, Springer-Verlag LNCS 295, June 1987.

Index Terms

• Computer systems organization

  • Architectures

    • Parallel architectures

  • Dependable and fault-tolerant systems and networks

• General and reference

  • Cross-computing tools and techniques

    • Performance

• Networks

  • Network performance evaluation

• Software and its engineering

  • Software notations and tools

    • General programming languages

      • Language types

• Theory of computation

  • Models of computation

    • Concurrency

      • Parallel computing models