Grid network
Encyclopedia
A grid network is a kind of computer network
consisting of a number of (computer) systems connected in a grid topology.
In a regular grid topology, each node in the network is connected with two neighbors along one or more dimension
s. If the network is one-dimensional, and the chain of nodes is connected to form a circular loop, the resulting topology is known as a ring. Network systems such as FDDI
use two counter-rotating token-passing rings to achieve high reliability and performance. In general, when an n-dimensional grid network is connected circularly in more than one dimension, the resulting network topology is a torus
, and the network is called "toroidal". When the number of nodes along each dimension of a toroidal network is 2, the resulting network is called
a hypercube
.
A parallel computing
cluster or multi-core processor is often connected in regular interconnection network such as a
de Bruijn graph
,
a hypercube graph,
a hypertree network
,
a fat tree
network,
a torus
, or cube-connected cycles
.
Note that a grid network is not the same as a grid computer (or computational grid) (even though the nodes in a grid network are usually computers, and grid computing
obviously requires some kind of computer network
to interconnect the computers).
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
consisting of a number of (computer) systems connected in a grid topology.
In a regular grid topology, each node in the network is connected with two neighbors along one or more dimension
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
s. If the network is one-dimensional, and the chain of nodes is connected to form a circular loop, the resulting topology is known as a ring. Network systems such as FDDI
Fiber distributed data interface
Fiber Distributed Data Interface provides a 100 Mbit/s optical standard for data transmission in a local area network that can extend in range up to . Although FDDI logical topology is a ring-based token network, it does not use the IEEE 802.5 token ring protocol as its basis; instead, its...
use two counter-rotating token-passing rings to achieve high reliability and performance. In general, when an n-dimensional grid network is connected circularly in more than one dimension, the resulting network topology is a torus
Torus
In geometry, a torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle...
, and the network is called "toroidal". When the number of nodes along each dimension of a toroidal network is 2, the resulting network is called
a hypercube
Hypercube
In geometry, a hypercube is an n-dimensional analogue of a square and a cube . It is a closed, compact, convex figure whose 1-skeleton consists of groups of opposite parallel line segments aligned in each of the space's dimensions, perpendicular to each other and of the same length.An...
.
A parallel computing
Parallel computing
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...
cluster or multi-core processor is often connected in regular interconnection network such as a
de Bruijn graph
De Bruijn graph
In graph theory, an n-dimensional De Bruijn graph of m symbols is a directed graph representing overlaps between sequences of symbols. It has mn vertices, consisting of all possible length-n sequences of the given symbols; the same symbol may appear multiple times in a sequence...
,
a hypercube graph,
a hypertree network
Hypertree network
A hypertree network is a network topology that shares some traits with the binary tree network. It is a variation of the fat tree architecture....
,
a fat tree
Fat tree
The fat tree network, invented by Charles E. Leiserson of MIT, is a universal network for provably efficient communication. Unlike an ordinary computer scientist's notion of a tree, which has "skinny" links all over, the links in a fat-tree become "fatter" as one moves up the tree towards the root...
network,
a torus
Torus
In geometry, a torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle...
, or cube-connected cycles
Cube-connected cycles
In graph theory, the cube-connected cycles is an undirected cubic graph, formed by replacing each vertex of a hypercube graph by a cycle. It was introduced by for use as a network topology in parallel computing.- Definition :...
.
Note that a grid network is not the same as a grid computer (or computational grid) (even though the nodes in a grid network are usually computers, and grid computing
Grid computing
Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...
obviously requires some kind of computer network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
to interconnect the computers).