Patent · US Expired

Integrated mechanism for suspension and deallocation of computational threads of execution in a processor

US7321965B2 · kind B2 · utility

65Cited by
34References
82Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateAug 27, 2004
Grant dateJan 22, 2008
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 6, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/54
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A microprocessor includes a core configured to concurrently execute instructions of a plurality of program threads and a yield instruction, included in the instruction set of the microprocessor. The yield instruction includes an opcode for instructing the microprocessor core to suspend issuing instructions of a thread. The thread is one of the plurality of concurrently executed program threads. The yield instruction is an instruction in the thread. The yield instruction also includes a first operand. If the first operand is a first predetermined value the microprocessor core terminates issuing instructions of the thread. If the first operand is a second predetermined value the microprocessor core unconditionally reschedules issuing instructions of the thread. The yield instruction also includes a second operand for receiving a result value of the instruction usable by other instructions of the program thread.

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