Fault tolerance analysis of the class of rearrangeable interconnection networks

Abstract

The issue of the fault tolerance of interconnection networks has received considerable attention since the last decade. The theoretical framework developed by J. P. Shen and J. P. Hays ( IEEE Trans. Comput. C-33, 3 (Mar. 1984), 241–248) and extended by S. Pakzad and S. Lakshmivarahan ( Internat. J. Comput. Syst. Sci. Engrg. 3, 2 (April 1988), 91–99) can be used as a guideline to analyze the fault tolerance behavior of the interconnection networks in a multicomputer environment. This paper analyzes the fault tolerance characteristics of a range of rearrangeable β-networks based on the concepts and the framework developed by S. Pakzad and S. Lakshmivarahan (cited earlier). These rearrangeable β-networks include the Benes network, the Waksman network, the Joel network, and the serial network. In addition, this paper presents a comparative analysis of the aforementioned networks according to their hardware cost, performance, and degree of fault tolerance.