The monitoring of inter-process communications in distributed systems

doi:10.1016/0167-739X(90)90035-C

Future Generation Computer Systems

Volume 5, Issue 4, January 1990, Pages 359-363

https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-739X(90)90035-C Get rights and content

Abstract

The decomposition of an application into processes and the allocation of the latter to the available processors is one of the most crucial problems in the software design phase of message-based distributed systems. In this paper the authors describe a tool which, by monitoring the communications between processes allocated to separate processing elements, is able to provide indications on the effectiveness of the partitioning and mapping actions carried out. The authors first show, with reference to systems built with Transputer family components, the tool's structure, which is highly independent from the system interconnection network; secondly, they show how to make an initial reduction of the data gathered during the monitoring phase.

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There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (2)

Rapid prototyping of distributed algorithms
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Rapid prototyping is expected to be especially effective in designing, evaluating, and tuning new software whose real-time performance and quality of service are difficult to determine analytically. Distributed algorithms and protocols fall into this category of software. In this paper we present the design and implementation of a rapid prototyping system for distributed algorithms. The system provides a library of interprocess communication routines and supports dynamic reconfiguration of network topology, automatic process loading and performance monitoring of the prototyped algorithms. We discuss our experiences in developing the rapid prototyping system on a transputer network and describe examples of using the system.
Transputer-based fault-tolerant and fail-safe node for dual ring distributed railway signalling systems
1994, Microprocessors and Microsystems
Railway signalling systems are based on fault-tolerant and fail-safe techniques to provide high reliability and safety. Transputers offer multiple communication links and provide a high degree of parallelism and are being used in safety-critical and fault-tolerant applications. We propose a fault-tolerant and fail-safe node using transputers for a local area network with dual ring topology to be used in distributed railway signalling systems. The proposed scheme uses a new technique of leadership based on rotation amongst the transputers of the node. Aspects of safe shutdown, recovery, reconfiguration and clock synchronization of the fault-tolerant and fail-safe node are addressed. Formal specifications of the fail-safe node and the simulation of the proposed technique are also given.

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The monitoring of inter-process communications in distributed systems

Abstract

Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing

Introduction to distributed-software engineering

IEEE Computer

A mapping strategy for parallel processing

IEEE Trans. on Computers C-36