Dependability evaluation of interconnection networks

This paper presents simulation models for the dependability evaluation of multiprocessor and multicomputer networks considering degradation of both computation and ommunication capabilities. Reliability and performance availability (PA) are used to characterize and evaluate the dependability of these architectures. Bandwidth availability (BA) and computation-communication availability (CCA) are used to quantify the PA of multiprocessors and multicomputers, respectively. These measures are based on the system requirements for the parallel execution of a task (job) that consists of a few subtasks. Dependability of the multiprocessors is analyzed for three general interconnection topologies, namely: crossbar, multistage interconnection network (MIN) and multiple-bus. The reliability-and-CCA model for the multicomputer graph accepts the adjacency matrix as the input and hence is suitable for all types of networks. Typical results are presented and compared for loop, complete connection, hypercube, mesh, and tree structures.