Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for managing the execution of a broadcast instruction on a guest processor

US7197585B2 · kind B2 · utility

50Cited by
12References
24Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 30, 2002
Grant dateMar 27, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 22, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F12/1072
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for managing the execution on guest processors of a broadcast instruction requiring a corresponding operation on other processors of a guest machine. Each of a plurality of processors on an information handling system is operable either as a host processor under the control of a host program executing on a host machine or as a guest processor under the control of a guest program executing on a guest machine. The guest machine is defined by the host program executing on the host machine and contains a plurality of such guest processors forming a guest multiprocessing configuration. A lock is defined for the guest machine containing an indication of whether it is being held by a host lock holder from the host program and a count of the number of processors holding the lock as guest lock holders. Upon decoding a broadcast instruction executing on a processor operating as a guest processor, the lock is tested to determine whether it is being held by a host lock holder. If the lock is being held by a host lock holder, an instruction interception is recognized and execution of the instruction is terminated. If the lock is not being held by a host lock holder, the l…

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