Report 84-14 A Variable Supply Model for Distributing

Multiple processors can be used to achieve a speedup of a backward-chaining deduction by distributing or-parallel deductions. However, the actual speedup obtained is strongly dependent on the task allocation strategy. Also, communication cost can be a significant part of the overall cost of a deduction. For the multiple processor scenario used in this paper,, processors with replicated databases on a broadcast network, a variable supply model (VSM) is presented. VSM represents an infinite class of strategies with varying communication requirements.