Dr. David Cronk Innovative Computing Lab University of ... - It works!

Point-to-Point Communication
Modes: Performance Issues
› Non-blocking calls are almost always the way to go
› Communication can be carried out during blocking system
calls
› Computation and communication can be overlapped if there
is special purpose communication hardware
› Less likely to have errors that lead to deadlock
› Standard mode is usually sufficient - but buffered mode can
offer advantages
• Particularly if there are frequent, large messages being sent
• If the user is unsure the system provides sufficient buffer space
› Synchronous mode can be more efficient if acks are needed
• Also tells the system that buffering is not required
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