The gene concept and its implementation for a dataflow schemed parallel computer

A dataflow scheme is suitable for multi-processor systems to extract parallelism naturally, but mapping ideal parallel computations to limited execution resources is a major problem. The Gene concept is proposed to provide flexible control of parallelism in dataflow schemed parallel computers. A gene is the property carried by data and propagated from ancestor operations to descendant operations. In this way, the Gene groups the operations according to properties. By checking the properties, the Gene can cease and suspend the execution of operation groups, and control the priority of execution among groups. These functions are essential for general purpose highly parallel computers allowing multi-programming, multi-user and standalone usage. This paper proposes the Gene concept and discusses its implementation and usage, then shows its effectiveness by simulations.