K-way bitonic sort

The k-way bitonic sort algorithm, a generalization of K.E. Batcher's bitonic sort algorithm (1968), is presented. This variation of the algorithm is based on a k-way decomposition instead of a two-way decomposition. It is proven that Batcher's bitonic sequence decomposition theorem still holds with this multiway decomposition. This leads to applications of sorting networks with bitonic sorters of arbitrary or mixed sizes.<>