Systolic combining switch designs
Susan R. Dickey · 1994
Ihavebeen fortunate to carry out the research for this dissertation in the stimulating and supportive environment of the Ultracomputer Research Laboratory. Iwould like to thank my advisor, Allan Gottlieb, Ultra's director, for his role in creating that environment aswell as for his careful reading of several drafts of my dissertation. As part of my work for Ultra, I have enjoyed fruitful research collaborations with Richard Kenner, my long-term partner in VLSI design, Ora Percus, my mentor in stochastic analysis and queueing theory, Yue-sheng Liu, who helped me formalize my thinking about switch types as well as simulating network behavior, Jan Edler, who was always willing to add another feature to his network simulator, and Ron Bianchini, who makes hardware work. In the computer science department as a whole, I would like to thank Alan Siegel, for reading my dissertation and making helpful comments, Ernie Davis and Richard Wallace, for serving on my committee, Elaine Weyuker, whose literature review seminar was very helpful in building both my con dence and competence to do computer science research, and Anina Karmen-Meade, who often helped me navigate NYU's bureaucratic labyrinths. Most of all, my gratitude goes to my husband, Tom Du, for his faith and support at all times, and to my children, Rachael Evans, Keelan Evans and Timothy Du. No matter how the research is going, my wonderful family always lls my life with joy. ii Contents