Patent · US Expired

System and method for custom context switching

US5613114A · kind A · utility

100Cited by
3References
27Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 15, 1994
Grant dateMar 18, 1997
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 15, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/461
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system for custom context switching comprises a thread accounting unit, a switching routine registration unit, a thread scheduling unit, a custom context switching unit, and a default context switching unit. The thread accounting unit creates a thread object for each thread present in a multithreaded execution environment, where the thread object includes data fields for storing a unique thread ID, a reference to a custom context switching routine, and a switching parameter signal. The switching routine registration unit stores a reference to a custom context switching routine in a particular thread object. The thread scheduling unit determines when rescheduling operations for transferring execution from one thread to another are required, and directs rescheduling operations. During rescheduling operations, the custom context switching unit initiates the execution of a custom context switching routine associated with a thread being switched-out, after which the default context switching unit performs a default context switch, after which the custom context switching unit initiates the execution of a custom context switching routine associated with a thread being switched-in. A me…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.