A thread-based interface for collective communication on ATM networks

This paper presents the results of an investigation of collective communication operations for distributed computing across asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks. Several collective operations have been implemented and studied on a three-switch ATM network testbed at Michigan State University. The methods use virtual topologies constructed from ATM virtual channels. A particular type of virtual topology is described that efficiently implements several collective operations through the use of hardware-supported ATM multicast channels. Performance measurements are presented that illustrate how a thread-based software design can take advantage of such underlying hardware features.