Impact of number of angles on the performance of the data vortex optical interconnection network

Reducing communication latency in multiprocessor interconnection networks can increase system performance on a broad range of applications. The data vortex photonic network reduces message latency by utilizing all-optical end-to-end transparent links and deflection routing. Cylinders replace node storage for buffering messages. The cylinder circumference (measured as number of angles) has a significant impact on the message acceptance rate and average message latency. A new symmetric mode of usage for the data vortex is discussed in which a fraction of the angles is used for input/output (I/O), and the remainder is used for "virtual buffering" of messages. For single-angle injection, six total angles provide the best performance. Likewise, the same ratio of 5 : 1 purely routing nodes versus I/O nodes is shown to produce greater than 99% acceptance, under normal loading conditions for all other network sizes studied. It is shown that for a given network I/O size, a shorter height and wider circumference data vortex organization provides acceptable latency with fewer total nodes than a taller but narrower data vortex. The performance versus system cost is discussed and evaluated, and the 5 : 1 noninjection-to-injection angle ratio is shown to be cost effective when constructing a system in current optical technology.