Fault tolerant load management system and method
US5513354A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 18, 1992 |
| Grant date | Apr 30, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 18, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/2035
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for managing tasks in a network of processors. After a period of time has elapsed, during which the processors of the network have been executing tasks allocated to them, the processors exchange views as to which pending tasks have or have not been completed. The processors reach a consensus as to the overall state of completion of the pending tasks. In a preferred embodiment, the processors exchange views and update their views based on the views received from the other processors. A predetermined condition determines that a consensus has been reached. The predetermined condition is preferably two sets of exchanges in which a processor has received messages from the same set of other processors. Alternatively, the condition is an exchange which does not result in any updates to a processor's view. A processor which has not sent a view as part of an exchange is deemed to have crashed, and the tasks previously allocated to crashed processors are assumed not to have been completed. All pending tasks, including those previously allocated but not completed, are then allocated. Preferably, allocation is based on an estimation that approximately the s…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.