Load-skewing task assignment to minimize communication conflicts on network of workstations
Communication latency is an important factor in deciding the performance of a parallel or distributed algorithm, especially in a low speed network environment. In a bus-based network of workstations, a perfectly load balancing arrangement does not always lead to the best performance due to potential communication resource conflicts. Such a situation arises when workstations tend to compete for the shared bus after they all finish their assigned workload at about the same time under such a load arrangement. In this paper, we provide a thorough analysis on how such communication conflicts can be minimized in a bus-based system by using a load-skewing assignment method. A probablistic model is used to analyze the needed skewing factor for cases in which computation requirement is either a deterministic or nondeterministic quantity. Our analytical results are closely confirmed by various simulation and experimental outcomes.
network of workstations load balance communication resource conflict task allocation divide-and-conquer