Patent · US Expired

System and method for mapping processor clock values in a multiprocessor system

US5964846A · kind A · utility

31Cited by
10References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 7, 1997
Grant dateOct 12, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 7, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F1/14
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a system and method for accurately and efficiently synchronizing and then mapping, or normalizing, processor clocks in a multiprocessor information handling system. The system and method of the present invention provide sufficient granularity for subcycle variations between processors, while taking into account the problem of clock drifts. A plurality of processors are selected for the purpose of synchronization. The clocks located on the processors are synchronized, and then time values between synchronization points are mapped from each secondary processor to an equivalent, or normalized, time value in a primary processor. To accomplish this mapping, three clock differences are calculated. The first clock difference is the time between the first and second synchronization points for the primary processor, and the second clock difference is the time between the first and second synchronization points for the secondary processor. The third clock difference is the time difference between the time value to be mapped in the secondary processor and the first synchronization point in the secondary processor. The third time difference is multiplied by…

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