A design methodology to develop efficient fork-join structures

A modeling approach for parallel structures (PSs) is introduced based on the processor-time (P-T) diagram (Gantt chart). The key features are that design requirements are represented as work required, individual and collective module designs as work accomplished, and resource utilization as work wasted. These representations are given simple geometric interpretations in the P-T diagram, making analysis of deterministic models an exercise in algebra. Next, performance parameters are derived which are provably ideal and can be used with profit for comparing competing designs or the quality of a particular design in terms of its execution time and use of resources. Then the authors describe the application of these performance measures to develop an efficient parallel structure