Performance modeling of optical interconnection technologies for massively parallel processing systems

Optical interconnection technologies (OITs) are expected to play an important role in alleviating the technologically induced architectural and algorithmic compromises that have to be made in the design of high-performance, massively parallel processors (MPPs) and their target applications. The vast diversity and relative immaturity of the OITs that have been put forth, however, point to the need for a well-articulated strategy for their inclusion into the design methodology of these systems. In particular, a broad-based study that would categorize OITs according to those architectural and algorithmic paradigms they would most impact is required. To this end, this paper presents the structure of the Applications-Driven Optical Interconnect Technology (ADROIT) modeling framework and summarizes on-going work geared toward its full development.