Budgeted express links boost network throughput under fixed wire limits
Budgeted Express-Mesh: Traffic-Aware Link Placement and Deadlock-Free Adaptive Routing
Hardware ArchitectureNetworking and Internet Architecture
Summary
High-performance computer networks need smart ways to send data quickly while using limited wiring. The authors designed a method that carefully adds a few extra express connections in a mesh network to improve traffic flow. They use a combination of rule-based and simulation-driven steps to pick where these fast links should go and how to route traffic through them without causing data jams. Their tests show better data throughput under heavy workloads compared to adding links randomly or using no extra links at all.
What this means in practice
- •For network engineers: Improve routing and link placement in on-chip or large-scale mesh networks to increase data throughput while respecting wiring budgets.
- •For data center operators: Optimize internal network topology to handle diverse and heavy workloads efficiently by adding a minimal number of express links based on traffic patterns.
Authors
Li Cao, Jingyuan Ma
Abstract
We present Budgeted Express-Mesh, a topology-routing co-design that adds a small number of traffic-aware express links under a fixed wire budget. An ASPL-based greedy placement is refined by simulation-guided annealing, while packets use committed top-K routes selected from delayed express-link congestion and reservation signals. Across four synthetic workloads, optimized placements consistently improve high-load throughput over Mesh and random placement, and annealing further improves Greedy. The gains persist under delayed quantized congestion information, longer express-link latency, multi-flit packets, and a 16-by-16 heterogeneous workload.