Studying the effect of the design parameters on the interconnection network performance in NOWs∗

With the increasing use of Network of Worksta-tions (NOWs) as an alternative to huge parallel computers it has become essential to design high-performance inter-connection networks for the communication between the nodes of these clusters. A large number of studies have been carried out to achieve this objective. Most of them propose a new tech-nique that affects one of the parameters that character-ize the interconnection network. These techniques are com-pletely new or inspired in the techniques previously used in multiprocessor systems. The impact of the proposal is studied (in most cases using simulation), and an analysis is made of the effect of the new technique over the system per-formance versus those currently in existence. In this kind of study most of the network parameters are fixed and usu-ally only a few parameters are varied. This paper presents a more general study of the intercon-nection network performance. This study consists in show-ing the effect of different design parameters over the net-work performance, and the interaction between them. This study would not be viable with the traditional techniques due to the number of simulations required. The alternative of the Experimental Design is used to carry out the study