Token bus interconnection network for tightly-coupled multiprocessor systems

The end product of this research is the development of an efficient method of interconnecting hundreds of processors via buses that use techniques known in local area network systems. The buses provide a high bandwidth channel with a token bus protocol that significantly reduces the latency found in most interconnection systems. The system consists of a bus interface unit to provide an interface between each processor and the buses. The system provides multiple buses to increase the system throughput and reliability. The token bus protocol is based on the IEEE 802.4 protocol with modifications to facilitate the use of multiple buses;The dissertation describes the interconnection network and the performance of the network. The bus interface unit and the token bus protocol are defined. The network supports two types of media. Both are described and a comparison is made between them. The performance of the token bus protocol is studied and compared with other protocols;The interconnection network is compared with several other interconnection networks using both cost and performance measures. The token bus interconnection network shows better performance and higher network quality than the other networks