Patent · US Active

Lock spin wait operation for multi-threaded applications in a multi-core computing environment

US9378069B2 · kind B2 · utility

9Cited by
16References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 5, 2014
Grant dateJun 28, 2016
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 10, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/4856
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed for a lock-spin-wait operation for managing multi-threaded applications in a multi-core computing environment. A target processor core, referred to as a “spin-wait core” (SWC), is assigned (or reserved) for primarily running spin-waiting threads. Threads operating in the multi-core computing environment that are identified as spin-waiting are then moved to a run queue associated with the SWC to acquire a lock. The spin-waiting threads are then allocated a lock response time that is less than the default lock response time of the operating system (OS) associated with the SWC. If a spin-waiting fails to acquire a lock within the allocated lock response time, the SWC is relinquished, ceding its availability for other spin-waiting threads in the run queue to acquire a lock. Once a spin-waiting thread acquires a lock, it is migrated to its original, or an available, processor core.

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