A Study of Switch Models for the Scalable Coherent Interface

  • B. Wu
  • A. Bogaerts
  • B. Skaali
Chapter
Part of the IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing book series (IFIPAICT)

Abstract

The Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI) specifies a topology-independent communication protocol with the possibility of connecting up to 64 K nodes. SCI switches are the key components in building large SCI systems effectively. This paper presents four alternative architectures for a possible SCI switch implementation. Of these four models, two could be seen as crossbar-based switches. The main difference between the two crossbar switch models is the different structure of queues: either a parallel structure, called SwitchLink or serial, called CrossSwitch. The other two models are a ring-based switch model, which is actually connecting four ports into an internal SCI ring and a bus-based switch model which uses an internal bidirectional bus. We will describe each model in detail and compare them by simulation.

Keywords

Scalable Coherent Interface SCI switch switch model simulation performance 
Download to read the full chapter text

References

  1. Bogaerts, A., Divia, R., Muller, H. and Renardy, J. (1992) SCI based Data AcquisitionGoogle Scholar
  2. Architectures, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science,Vol. 39, No. 2, Apr. 1992Google Scholar
  3. Bothner, J. and Hulaas T. (1991) Various interconnects for SCI-based systems, Proceedings of Open Bus Systems’91, Paris, 1991Google Scholar
  4. Buggert, J., Desai, V., Herzberg, L. and Kibria, K. (1994) The Unisys Datapump and Switch, Proceedings the 1st International Workshop on SCI-based High Performance Low-Cost Computing, Santa Clara, CA., Aug. 1994Google Scholar
  5. Feng, T. (1981) A Survey of Interconnection Networks, IEEE Computer, December 1981, pp 12–27Google Scholar
  6. IEEE Std 1212 (1991) Control and Status Register (CSR) Architecture for Microcomputer Buses,IEEE Service Center IEEE Std. 1596 (1992) The Scalable Coherent Interface,IEEE Service CenterGoogle Scholar
  7. Johnson, R. and Goodman, J. (1992) Synthesizing General Topologies from Rings, Proceedings of ICPP, Aug. 1992Google Scholar
  8. Gustayson, D.B. (1992) The Scalable Coherent Interface and related Standards Projects, IEEE Micro, Feb. 1992, pp. 10–22Google Scholar
  9. Newman, P. (1992) ATM Technology for Corporate Networks, IEEE Comm. Magazine, Vol. 30, N. 4, Apr. 1992, pp. 90–101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Scott, S., Goodman, J., Vernon, M. (1992) Performance of the SCI Ring, Proceedings IEEE ISCA 92, Queensland, May 1992Google Scholar
  11. Wu, B. and Bogaerts, A. (1993) Several Details of SCI Switch Models, RD24 note, CERN, Nov. 1993Google Scholar
  12. Wu, B., Bogaerts, A., Kristiansen, E., Muller, H., Perea, E. and Skaali, B. (1994) Applications of the Scalable Coherent Interface in Multistage Networks, Proceedings IEEE TENCON’94, Frontiers of Computer Technology, Singapore, Aug. 22–26, 1994Google Scholar
  13. Wu, B. (1994) SCI Switches, Proceedings Int’l Data Acquisition Conference on Event Building and Event Data Readout in Medium and High Energy Physics Experiments, Batavia, IL. Oct 26–28, 1994Google Scholar
  14. Wu, B. and Bogaerts, A. (1995) SCILab-A Simulation Environment for the Scalable Coherent Interface, Proceedings IEEE MASCOTS’95, Durham, NC., Jan. 16–18 1995Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1996

Authors and Affiliations

  • B. Wu
    • 1
    • 2
  • A. Bogaerts
    • 2
  • B. Skaali
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of PhysicsUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
  2. 2.ECP-DS, CERNGeneva 23Switzerland

Personalised recommendations