A kernel for high-performance multicast communications

A kernel is described, called the link kernel, for high-performance interprocess communication among shared-memory multiprocessors using an Ethernet. The link kernel provides asynchronous multicast communication service without protocol overhead. Links are created by listeners, and processes may be simultaneously talkers and listeners. Processes access links through a global link table. Multicast addresses are site-independent, so communication is independent of process locations in the network. Communication is asynchronous, so much of the overhead of message management is masked by parallel computation