CHAPTER 2

Message Switching Layer

Interprocessor communication can be viewed as a hierarchy of services starting from the physical layer that synchronizes the transfer of bit streams to higher-level protocol layers that perform functions such as packetization, data encryption, data compression, and so on. Such a layering of communication services is common in the local and wide area network communities. While there currently may not be a consensus on a standard set of layers for multiprocessor systems, we find it useful to distinguish between three layers in the operation of the interconnection network: the routing layer, the switching layer, and the physical layer. The physical layer refers to link-level protocols for transferring messages ...

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