A data-driven implementation of telecommunication network systems

Undoubtedly, users' requirements and engineering constraints will influence the future information environment. The authors have started a project named CUE (Coordinating Users' requirements and Engineering constraints). The project uses an efficient ultra-multiprocessing capability with overload tolerance and maintainability/expandability, incorporating run-time reconfiguration as essential requirements to realize distributed networking systems such as TINA, which is aimed at the interoperability, reusability and transparency of application software. To satisfy these requirements from engineering viewpoints, the CUE project proposes applying to the network systems an autonomous decentralized data-driven processor which adopts an autonomous execution control scheme in which data packets passing through the pipeline achieve all data transfer, processing and storing/buffering functions in a completely decentralized manner. The processor can therefore perform high flow-rate multimedia streams with considerable flow fluctuations and act as a functional module flexibly adding to/removing from the system at run-time without any overheads. The essential requirements to realize a distributed networking environment such as TINA are first discussed. The applicability of our data-driven processor is shown through actual performance evaluations by the latest VLSI systems. An autonomous run-time reconfiguration scheme in a multiprocessor system is proposed to demonstrate the potential of the data-driven processor. Finally, the current status and future directions of the CUE project are briefly addressed.