How using busses in multicomputer programs affects conservative parallel simulation

Abstract

In this paper we consider the effect of using bus interconnection structures on the overheads present in conservative parallel simulations of multicomputer programs. We use a modified version of the Poker Programming Environment to empirically measure the overhead in three parallel algorithms using buses. We discuss the sources of overhead and compare them with those found using point-to-point communication. Preliminary results indicate that the overheads encountered using a bus interconnection structure were not predicted by our previous results using point-to-point communications.