A Survey of Multistage Interconnection Networks

Background: Multistage interconnection networks are being used in computer and communications. Multiprocessor architectures for parallel computing exercise these interconnection networks for connecting various processing elements and transfer data between sub-systems of a digital system. The vast diversity of the field poses an obstacle to realize different kinds of interconnection networks and their relationship. Methods: This paper consists of an extensive survey of multistage interconnection networks. Results: A broad classification of multistage interconnection networks based on network functionality, reliability and fault tolerance is presented in order to emphasize the important principles which differentiate the network architectures. For each class of network, significant results are given and the basic design principles are explained. Conclusion: The various multistage interconnection networks design provide high performance, availability, throughput, lower latency, less power consumption along with improved fault-tolerance and reliability. However, there is a rising demand for new fault-tolerant and reliable multistage interconnection networks.