Procedure Call Models for Distributed Parameters
		       in Data Parallel Programs

		  Bwolen Yang and David R. O'Hallaron


Abstract:

When a computer program invokes a procedure, both the caller
and the callee must agree on how to pass the parameters into and out of
the procedure.  In this paper, this agreement is referred to as the
procedure call model.  In data parallel languages like High Performance
Fortran (HPF), the procedure call model for distributed parameters can
have an impact on procedure call overhead.  This paper introduces a
taxonomy of procedure call models, and examines how different models can
reduce the procedure call overhead by avoiding unnecessary
redistribution and by providing compile-time distribution information.
A key result is that the procedure call model bounds the availability of
compile-time information on the distribution of parameters, and this
information can have an impact on the quality of the redistribution
code.





@INPROCEEDINGS(yang:splc94,
   KEY="distributed",
   AUTHOR="Bwolen Yang and David R. O'Hallaron",
   TITLE="Procedure Call Models for Distributed Parameters in Data Parallel Programs",
   ORGANIZATION="",
   BOOKTITLE="Proceedings of the Scalable Parallel Libraries Conference",
   month="October",
   YEAR="1994",
   pages = "157-164")