Communication Abstraction
User level communication primitives provided
- Realizes the programming model
- Mapping exists between language primitives of programming model and these primitives
Supported directly by hw, or via OS, or via user sw
Lot of debate about what to support in sw and gap between layers
Today:
- Hw/sw interface tends to be flat, i.e. complexity roughly uniform
- Compilers and software play important roles as bridges today
- Technology trends exert strong influence
Result is convergence in organizational structure
- Relatively simple, general purpose communication primitives