Interconnecting Computers -- Architecture.pdf

Interconnecting Computers: Architecture, Technology, and Economics1 Butler W. Lampson Systems Research Center, Digital Equipment Corporation One Kendall Sq., Bldg 700, Cambridge, MA 02138 lampson@ Abstract. Modern computer systems have a recursive structure of processing and storage elements that are interconnected to make larger elements: Functional units connected to registers and on-chip cache. Multiple processors and caches connected to main memories. Computing nodes connected by a message-passing local area network. Local area networks bridged to form an extended LAN. Networks connected in a wide-area internet. All the computers in the world exchanging electronic mail. Above the lowest level of transistors and gates, the essential character of these connec- tions changes surprisingly little over about nine orders of magnitude in time and space. Connections are made up of nodes and links; their important properties are bandwidth, latency, connectivity, availability, and cost. Switching is the basic mechanism for con- necting lots of things. There are many ways to implement it, all based on multiplexing and demultiplexing. This paper describes some of them and gives many examples. It also considers the interactions among the different levels of complex systems. 1 Introduction A point of view is worth 80 points of IQ. Alan Kay A computing system is part of a complex web of interconnections. We impose order on this web by organizing it hierarchically: a system is made up of connected subsys- tems, and is itself connected to other parts of the larger system that cont