Patent ID: 8291033

Claim:
A computer-implemented method to implement a collective operation on a parallel computer and using distinct characteristics of a plurality of networks, the method comprising: providing the plurality of networks having distinct characteristics, each network connecting a plurality of compute nodes of the parallel computer, wherein the plurality of networks includes a first network and a second network, wherein the first network has a characteristic of lower latency relative to the second network, and wherein the second network has a characteristic of higher bandwidth relative to the first network; broadcasting, by a source node of the plurality of compute nodes, a direct memory access (DMA) descriptor over the first network to at least one target node of the plurality of compute nodes, to initialize the collective operation using the characteristic of lower latency of the first network, wherein the DMA descriptor specifies a set of parameters for performing the collective operation; and subsequent to initializing the collective operation and using the broadcast DMA descriptor and by operation of one or more computer processors, performing the collective operation by the at least one target node over the second network, to effect the collective operation using the characteristic of higher bandwidth of the second network, whereby the collective operation is implemented using the distinct characteristics of the plurality of networks.