The MPI standard for message passing

Abstract

The growing number of different message-passing interfaces make it difficult to port an application program from one parallel computer to another. This is a major problem in parallel computing. The open MPI forum has developed a de facto message-passing interface standard which was finalized in the first quarter of 1994. All major parallel machine manufacturers were involved in the process, and the first implementations are already available.

This article gives an overview of the MPI initiative. The main aspects of the standard are presented, with emphasis on those features which go beyond current practice.

This work was supported by the Commission of the European Community through Esprit project P6643 (PPPE)