Issues in Heterogeneous Network Based Concurrent Computing

这个项目涉及计算机系统的互连集合上的并发计算，包括多处理器、向量超级计算机和专用标量机器。这种基于网络的虚拟并发计算环境对于提高整体资源的可用性和共享性，以及开发单个机器的特殊能力都是有价值的。该项目将调查这种计算系统中的关键问题，并开发能够有效和高效地利用基于网络的并发处理环境的解决方案。对高性能应用程序、现有工具的分析，以及我们使用基于网络的原型系统的经验，已经确定了本研究将重点关注的关键领域。其中一个涉及到适当的方法和工具，以帮助将应用程序的各个部分映射到异类环境中最适合的资源。另一个重要领域涉及提高联网环境中通信设施的效率。支持在不同网络类型上进行高效并发计算的机制、实现高级别并发原语的策略以及降低在不同环境中操作的开销是将重点关注的问题。该项目将以务实为导向，并将采用试验性方法。

This project is concerned with concurrent computing on interconnected collections of computer systems, including multiprocessors, vector supercomputers, and specialized scalar machines. Such a network based, virtual concurrent computing environment is valuable both for increasing overall resource availability and sharing, and for exploiting special capabilities of individual machines. This project will investigate critical issues in such a computing system, and develop solutions that permit the effective and efficient utilization of network based concurrent processing environments. Analyses of high-performance applications, existing tools, and our experiences with a prototype network based system have identified the key areas that will be focussed upon in this research. One concerns appropriate methodologies and tools to assist in mapping portions of the application to the best suited resources in a heterogeneous environments. Another area of importance concerns improving the efficiency of communications facilities in networked environments. Support mechanisms to enable efficient concurrent computing over different network types, strategies for the implementation high level concurrency primitives, and lowering the overheads of operating in heterogeneous environments are issues that will be focused upon. The project will have a pragmatic orientation, and an experimental approach will be adopted.