Dynamic reconfiguration of networks with distributed routing: The single scheme

Dependable network-based computing systems often require the ability to efficiently reconfigure the routing in order to reflect changes in network topology if and when changes occur. Current techniques for reconfiguring a network's routing capabilities are very inefficient, and some may lead to deadlocking of messages. We propose an efficient and deadlock-free reconfiguration technique that is generically applicable to interconnection networks used in cluster computing systems. The proposed technique does not impede the injection, transmission, or delivery of user packets during the reconfiguration process, thus providing uninterrupted service, increased availability/reliability, and improved overall performance.