Precedence-constrained task allocation onto point-to-point networks for pipelined execution

The problem of scheduling directed acyclic task flow graphs to multiprocessor systems using point-to-point networks is examined. An environment where the application has a strict throughput requirement is assumed. Pipelined parallelism is used to meet the throughput requirement. Communication and computation are completely overlapped. Each task and message has a periodic rate and deadline equal to the throughput requirement. A heuristic procedure based on preclustering, recursive mincut bipartitioning, and iterative improvement is proposed to reduce the maximum contention due to communication in the network, increasing the likelihood that messages meet their deadlines. The task assignment procedure takes into account the topology of the multiprocessor system and the distance between communicating tasks.