A message passing interface for parallel and distributed computing

The proliferation of high performance workstations and the emergence of high speed networks have attracted a lot of interest in parallel and distributed computing (PDC). The authors envision that PDC environments with supercomputing capabilities will be available in the near future. However, a number of hardware and software issues have to be resolved before the full potential of these PDC environments can be exploited. The presented research has the following objectives: (1) to characterize the message-passing primitives used in parallel and distributed computing; (2) to develop a communication protocol that supports PDC; and (3) to develop an architectural support for PDC over gigabit networks.<>