Results from the Macramé 1024 Node Switching Network

Introduction Data acquisition and trigger systems for LHC experiments will depend critically on the use of high speed point to point links and packet switches [1,2]. A range of alternative technologies are presently under study including, Fibre Channel [3], ATM [4], SCI [5] and IEEE 1355 [6] (DS and HS links). To date, practical experience with packet switching networks in High Energy Physics (HEP) has been confined to relatively small systems and there are no experimental results on how the performance of such systems will scale up to several hundred or even several thousand nodes. Theoretical studies [7,8] have been carried out for large IEEE 1355 networks of up to one thousand nodes connected by different switching topologies. HowPreprint submitted to Elsevier Preprint 17 February ever, the traffic patterns used are not those relevant to HEP experiments, but rather those found in telecommunications systems or massively parallel computers. We present result

The MACRAMÉ 1024 Node Switching Network: Status and Future Prospects

Within the framework of the MACRAMÉ Esprit project a large switching network is being constructed using IEEE 1355 DS link technology. The final system will allow the systematic study of the performance of a 1024 node testbed using a variety of network topologies and traffic patterns, including those met in High Energy Physics trigger and data acquisition applications. The status of the project and some preliminary results are presented. 1. Introduction It is recognised that the data acquisition and trigger systems for LHC experiments will depend critically on the use of high speed point to point links and packet switches [1,12]. A range of alternative technologies are presently under study including, Fibre Channel [2], ATM [3], SCI [4] and IEEE 1355 [5] (DS and HS links). To date, practical experience has been confined to relatively small systems and there are no experimental results on how the performance of such systems will scale up to several hundred or even several thousand nodes..