Timing models and local stopping criteria for asynchronous iterative algorithms

Asynchronous iterative algorithms can reduce much of the data dependencies associated with synchronization barriers. The reported study investigates t he potentials of asynchronous iterative algorithms by quantifying the criti cal parallel processing factors. Specifically, a time complexity-based anal ysis method is used to understand the inherent interdependencies between co mputing and communication overheads for the parallel asynchronous algorithm . The results show, not only that the computational experiments closely mat ch the analytical results, but also that the use of asynchronous iterative algorithms can be beneficial for a vast number of parallel processing envir onments. The choice of local stopping criteria that is critically important to the overall system performance is investigated in depth. (C) 1999 Acade mic Press.