Performance modeling for interconnection networks

Designing a parallel computer would be much easier if one interconnection network was for all applications and platforms. However, unfortunately, no such network exists. For a fixed application domain and fixed platform, selecting the best network can be difficult because many performance metrics and costs could be used. We discuss performance problems for interconnection networks, and describe performance metrics and performance modeling of interconnection networks from three aspects: analytical modeling, simulation modeling and empirical modeling. We also analyze the limitations and advantages of these models.