value NULL for the descriptor
The send inline optimization uses the btl_sendi function to achieve
lower latency and higher message rates. The problem is the btl_sendi
function was allowed to return a descriptor to the caller. This is fine
for some paths but not ok for the send inline optimization. To fix
this the btl now must be able to handle descriptor = NULL.
structure
This structure member was originally used to specify the remote segment
for an RDMA operation. Since the new btl interface no longer uses
desriptors for RDMA this member no longer has a purpose. In addition
to removing these members the local segment information has been
renamed to des_segments/des_segment_count.
We recognize that this means other users of OPAL will need to "wrap" the opal_process_name_t if they desire to abstract it in some fashion. This is regrettable, and we are looking at possible alternatives that might mitigate that requirement. Meantime, however, we have to put the needs of the OMPI community first, and are taking this step to restore hetero and SPARC support.
WHAT: Open our low-level communication infrastructure by moving all necessary components (btl/rcache/allocator/mpool) down in OPAL
All the components required for inter-process communications are currently deeply integrated in the OMPI layer. Several groups/institutions have express interest in having a more generic communication infrastructure, without all the OMPI layer dependencies. This communication layer should be made available at a different software level, available to all layers in the Open MPI software stack. As an example, our ORTE layer could replace the current OOB and instead use the BTL directly, gaining access to more reactive network interfaces than TCP. Similarly, external software libraries could take advantage of our highly optimized AM (active message) communication layer for their own purpose. UTK with support from Sandia, developped a version of Open MPI where the entire communication infrastucture has been moved down to OPAL (btl/rcache/allocator/mpool). Most of the moved components have been updated to match the new schema, with few exceptions (mainly BTLs where I have no way of compiling/testing them). Thus, the completion of this RFC is tied to being able to completing this move for all BTLs. For this we need help from the rest of the Open MPI community, especially those supporting some of the BTLs. A non-exhaustive list of BTLs that qualify here is: mx, portals4, scif, udapl, ugni, usnic.
This commit was SVN r32317.
