Efficient Broadcast in Heterogeneous Networks of Workstations Using Two Sub-Networks

This paper presents efficient algorithms for broadcasting on heterogeneous switch-based networks of workstations (HNOW) by two partitioned sub-networks. In an HNOW, many multiple speed types of workstations have different send and receive overheads. Previous research has found that routing by two sub-networks in a NOW can significantly increase system’s performance (Proc. 10th International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks, pp. 68–73, 2001). Similarly, EBS and VBBS (Proc. 8th IEEE International Symposium on Computer and Communication, pp. 1277–1284, (2003)), designed by applying the concept of fastest nodes first, can be executed in O(nlog(n)) time, where n is the number of workstations. This paper proposes two schemes TWO-EBS and TWO-VBBS for broadcasting in an HNOW. These two schemes divide an HNOW into two sub-networks that are routed concurrently and combine EBS and VBBS to broadcast in an HNOW. Based on simulation results, TWO-VBBS outperforms EBS, VBBS, VBBSWF (Proc. 8th IEEE International Symposium on Computer and Communication, pp. 1277–1284, (2003)), the postorder recursive doubling (Proc. Merged IPPS/SPDP Conference, pp. 358–364, (1998)), and the optimal scheduling tree (Proc. Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium, Proc. 15th International (2001)) generated by dynamic programming in an HNOW.