Dynamic page migration in multiprocessors with distributed global memory

Abstract

A mechanism called the pivot mechanism is introduced and described. It controls the dynamic migration of data pages between neighboring memory modules during program execution to improve the performance and programmability of multiprocessors with distributed global memory. The programmer or compiler is relieved from the data allocation task; moreover, because data allocation is dynamically modified to minimize communication traffic, algorithms with varying and unpredictable data access patterns can run efficiently. Flexible data migration serves the dual purpose of making algorithms the efficient machine-specific and making possible the efficient execution of algorithms for which a good static allocation is not possible. Simulation results based on a mesh-connected multiprocessor performing a matrix multiplication are presented.