This paper describes a general contention model called the heterogeneo
us multipath contention model. The model is a representation of arbitr
arily overlapped communication paths of jobs that have different messa
ge injection rates. Based on this model, we analyze the degradation of
communication performance due to multiple interacting jobs in a 2-D m
esh wormhole-routed multicomputer system. We compute the contention de
lay seen by a message on a path in the heterogeneous multipath content
ion model. A divide-and-conquer strategy divides the problem into seve
ral manageable problems of computing the contention delay for the hete
rogeneous 2-path contention model. In order to verify the analysis of
our heterogeneous multipath contention model, we compare our analytic
results with a simulation model. In addition, we analyze a contention
model in which two jobs have complex internal communication patterns t
hat overlap.