In recent years, multiprocessor systems have been developed to exploit parallelism within individual programs. However, a multiprocessor system may be used more efficiently if its processors are partitioned among independent parallel programs. The partitioning of a multiprocessor system is addressed in this paper.
A simple yet powerful model is proposed for the analysis of various partitioning schemes. The model parameterizes both a multiprocessor system and its parallel workload. Attention is restricted to a multiprocessor system partitioned between two parallel programs. The model is studied to determine (1) when partitioning is worthwhile, (2) the extent of performance improvement under optimal partitioning, and (3) which of three partition scheduling schemes is best.
