Patent ID: 8417778
Filing Date: 2013-04-09
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method, in a collective acceleration unit, for performing a collective operation to distribute data among a plurality of participant nodes, the method comprising: receiving, in the collective acceleration unit, a collective operation from one or more originating nodes within the plurality of participant nodes; storing data for the collective operation in a working buffer of the collective acceleration unit; sending the data for the collective operation from the collective acceleration unit to one or more neighboring recipient nodes within the plurality of participant nodes according to a collective tree index stored in the collective acceleration unit; responsive to sending the data for the collective operation from the collective acceleration unit to one or more neighboring recipient nodes, storing the data for the collective operation in a backup buffer of the collective acceleration unit, wherein storing the data for the collective operation in the backup buffer comprises flipping roles of the working buffer and the backup buffer such that the working buffer becomes the backup buffer and the backup buffer becomes the working buffer; and responsive to a determination that an acknowledgement is not received from a given recipient node within the one or more neighboring recipient nodes, resending the data for the collective operation from the backup buffer to the given recipient node.