Several mathematical models have been proposed to evaluate the performance of interconnection networks used for high-speed connections for supercomputers, switches and routers for local and wide area networks, as well as networks on a chip. Often these models are based on state space reduction by exploiting symmetries of the network and requiring uniform traffic patterns. If an interconnection network is built for a specific application with non-uniform spatial traffic distribution, models that are more general are needed. This paper proposes a mathematical model for performance evaluation of application-specific interconnection networks based on inhomogeneous discrete time Markov chains (DTMC). It supports store and forward routing, irregular network topologies, and asymmetric spatial traffic distributions. The model is described in a generalized way so that it can support arbitrary switching element sizes within the network and its input buffers.
['Daniel Lüdtke', 'Dietmar Tutsch']
A DTMC Model for Performance Evaluation of Irregular Interconnection Networks with Asymmetric Spatial Traffic Distributions