Patent · US Expired

Messaging in distributed memory multiprocessing system having shell circuitry for atomic control of message storage queue's tail pointer structure in local memory

US5841973A · kind A · utility

160Cited by
15References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 13, 1996
Grant dateNov 24, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 13, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F15/17381
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A messaging facility in a multiprocessor computer system includes assembly circuitry in a source processing element for assembling a message to be sent from the source processing element to a destination processing element based on information provided from a processor in the source processing element. A network router transmits the assembled message from the source processing element to the destination processing element via an interconnect network. A message queue in a local memory of the destination processing element stores the transmitted message. A control word stored in the local memory of the destination processing element includes a limit field designating a size of the message queue and a tail field designating an index into the corresponding message queue to indicate a location in the message queue where the transmitted message is to be stored. Shell circuitry in the destination processing element atomically reads and updates the tail field.

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