It is important to consider the granularity of our communication blocks, in combination with the type of interconnection network that we choose to use. For example, it may be of benefit to us to have flits instead of packets, such that we don't have to be waiting at a certain node for an entire packet to arrive, whereas a flit can traverse the entire network without delay.
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Applications send messages, protocols break those messages into packets, networks break packets into flits to handle flow control.
It is important to consider the granularity of our communication blocks, in combination with the type of interconnection network that we choose to use. For example, it may be of benefit to us to have flits instead of packets, such that we don't have to be waiting at a certain node for an entire packet to arrive, whereas a flit can traverse the entire network without delay.
Applications send messages, protocols break those messages into packets, networks break packets into flits to handle flow control.