A distributed shared-memory system on a workstation cluster using fast serial links

Abstract

In this paper, a fast serial link, Serial Transparent Asynchronous First-in First-out Link (STAFF-Link), is introduced. Using such links, the paper constructs a parallel processing system based on a workstation cluster. The workstation cluster implements a distributed shared memory mechanism for inter-process communication using a software controlled cache using a STAFF-Link router board. The board has a chained multicast capability with which there has been implemented an efficient invalidation protocol based on the Eager Release Consistency model in the DSM system.