A partitioning algorithm for distributed software systems design

One complication in using distributed computer systems is the increased complexity of developing distributed software systems. These software systems are composed of asynchronously executing components which communicate via message passing. Current software design techniques are not adequate for use in the design of distributed software systems. New design methods which explicitly address the problem of system partitioning are needed. An overall distributed software design approach is presented. The key to the design approach is the presentation of a distributed processing component (DPC) partitioning algorithm for clustering functional modules in order to derive a set of distributed processing components. The design approach is oriented towards producing a software system which is hierarchical, which exploits potential concurrency that exists between functional modules, and which avoids nonprofitable message traffic.