Patent · US Expired

Method of controlling the degree of parallelism when performing parallel processing on an inherently serial computer program

US6223281A · kind A · utility

8Cited by
7References
9Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 15, 1997
Grant dateApr 24, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 15, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F8/45
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An inherently serial program is processed in parallel, thus leading to higher processing speeds, while maintaining a close approximation to the specific result obtained through a serial running of the program. This goal has been attained based on the fact that the desired degree of closeness between a parallel result and the serial result depends on the particular inherently serial program being run and the type of analysis being performed. That is, some inherently serial processes require a "fine-tuned" result while for others a "coarser" result is acceptable. The frequency at which the parallel branches consolidate their respective results is changed accordingly to alter the degree of closeness between the parallel processed result and the serially processed result.

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