Advanced topics in dataflow computing and multithreading

de Lubomir Bic, Guang R. Gao, Jean-Luc Gaudiot

Examines recent advances in design, modeling, and implementation of dataflow and multithreaded computers. The text contains reports concerning many of the world's leading projects engaged in the continuing evolution and application of dataflow concepts. It covers the broad range of dataflow principles in program representation - from language design to processor architecture - and compiler optimization techniques. The book includes papers on massively parallel distributed memory and multithreaded architecture design, synchronization and pipelined design, and superpipelined data-driven VLSI processors. Other sections discuss stream data types, the development of well-structured software, and parallelization of dataflow programs. It also details an analytical model for the behavior of dataflow graphs, compares a centralized work distribution scheme with a distributed scheme, and presents a comprehensive approach to understanding workload management schemes. Altogether, the text introduces the reader to dataflow concepts that show how functional programming ideas can be harnessed to exploit the power of parallel computing.