The integrated MetaNet architecture: a switch-based multimedia LAN for parallel computing and real-time traffic

This work presents a coherent system solution for combining with no loss due to congestion, on one hand, bursty traffic with unpredictable pattern in time and space, and on the other hand, periodic real-time or connection-oriented traffic with bandwidth guaranteed requirements over fixed routes. This solution facilitates the implementation of a scalable high performance multimedia system for distributed/parallel computing with real-time interactive voice and video. The MetaNet real-time traffic has the following attributes: (1) guaranteed bandwidth with bounded delay, (2) fixed jitter-independent of the network size, (3) no loss due to congestion inside the network, (4) fixed path routing with FIFO order, and (5) support of complex periodicity scheduling. At the same time, the underlying MetaNet asynchronous (bursty) traffic properties (provided by previous works) remain unchanged. Namely, any node can try to transmit asynchronously (bursty traffic), without reservation as much as it can, and the network access and flow control ensure the following traditional LAN properties: (6) no loss with a single input buffer, (7) fair and deadlock-free access, and (8) self-routing with broadcast. The self-routing on the MetaNet is a variant of deflection routing. It makes on-line routing decisions based on the local flow of traffic (load conditions). Unlike other deflection techniques, the MetaNet routing is along a global sense of direction, which guarantees that cells will reach their destinations. Thus, this method is called convergence routing