Patent · US Expired

Inter-thread communications using shared interrupt register

US6971103B2 · kind B2 · utility

50Cited by
9References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 1, 2003
Grant dateNov 29, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 2, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/3851
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A multithreaded processor includes an interrupt controller for processing a cross-thread interrupt directed from a requesting thread to a destination thread. The interrupt controller in an illustrative embodiment receives a request for delivery of the cross-thread interrupt to the destination thread, determines whether the destination thread of the cross-thread interrupt is enabled for receipt of cross-thread interrupts, and utilizes a thread identifier to control delivery of the cross-thread interrupt to the destination thread if the destination thread is enabled for receipt of cross-thread interrupts. The requesting thread requests delivery of the cross-thread interrupt to the destination thread by setting a corresponding interrupt pending bit in a flag register of the multithreaded processor. The destination thread is enabled for receipt of cross-thread interrupts if a corresponding enable bit is set in an enable register of the multithreaded processor. The flag and enable registers may be implemented within the interrupt controller.

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