Using groups to support the interconnection of parallel applications

Among the efforts of building heterogeneous applications through the interconnection of independently developed components, we have proposed a group-oriented approach called PHIS. In this paper we identify several types of interaction between application components and show how a group-oriented approach eases the modelling of these interaction patterns. A brief description of PHIS primitives is made and through the use of three examples we show how the PHIS system supports the group-oriented approach. A comparison is made between several related systems and PHIS and its distinctive characteristics are highlighted. Our experience in the building of a medium sized application like a parallel genetic algorithm execution environment supports the claim of the power and flexibility of PHIS as an interconnection model.