Command message generation and execution using a machine code-instruction

• US 10,114,638 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2014
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Steiss, Donald Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Algibhah, Hamza N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Hannah S
• Application Number:
  US14/571,115
• Publication Number:
  US 20160173601A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,415 Days
• Field of Search: 709212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/00 Interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units interface circuits for specific input/output devices G06F3/00 ; multiprogram control therefor G06F9/46; multiprocessor systems G06F15/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/30003 Arrangements for executing specific machine instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3004 to perform operations on memory

Abstract

In one embodiment, command message generation and execution using a machine code-instruction is performed. One embodiment includes a particular machine executing a single machine-code instruction including a reference into a command-message-building data structure stored in memory. This executing the single machine-code instruction includes generating a command message and initiating communication of the command message to a hardware accelerator, including copying command information from the command-message-building data structure based on the reference into the command message. The hardware accelerator receives and executes the command message. In one embodiment, the command message is message-switched from a processor to a hardware accelerator, such as, but not limited to, a memory controller, a table lookup unit, or a prefix lookup unit. In one embodiment, a plurality of threads share the command-message-building data structure. In one embodiment, a plurality of processors share the command-message-building data structure.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

executing, by a processor of a particular machine, a single machine-code instruction of a processor instruction set of the processor, with the single machine-code instruction including an OP code and a plurality of arguments, with the OP code specifying to the processor the operation of the of the single machine-code instruction that includes generating a command message based on the plurality of arguments;

wherein the plurality of augments includes a reference into a command-message-building data structure stored in memory, a virtual address, and a copy position reference;

wherein said executing the single machine-code instruction by the processor includes generating the command message and initiating communication of the command message to the hardware accelerator, with said generating the command message including copying command information, that includes an identification of a plurality of operations, from the command-message-building data structure based on the reference into the command message at a position within the command message identified based on the copy position reference;

wherein a translation of the virtual address is included in the command message;

receiving, by the hardware accelerator, the command message that includes the command information that includes the identification of the plurality of operations; and

executing, by the hardware accelerator, the command message, with said executing the command message includes executing the plurality of operations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said initiating communication of the command message to the hardware accelerator includes enqueuing a direct memory access (DMA) operation for communicating the command message to the hardware accelerator.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the hardware accelerator is a memory controller.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the hardware accelerator is a table lookup unit or a prefix lookup unit.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the command-message-building data structure is a table and the reference is an index into the table.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said command information includes a hardware-accelerator instruction;

and wherein said executing the command message includes executing the accelerator instruction.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the hardware-accelerator instruction is to indivisibly perform the plurality of operations;

and wherein said executing the command message includes indivisibly executing the plurality of operations.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said command information includes identification of the hardware accelerator for use in communicating the command message to the hardware accelerator.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said command information includes identification of error processing to be performed in case of an error.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said executing the single machine-code instruction includes providing the virtual address to an address translation unit to generate the translation of the virtual address.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of arguments of the single machine-code instruction includes a result storage position reference;

wherein said generating the command message comprises including the result storage position reference in the command message; and

wherein the method includes processing based on a result of said executed command message located at the result storage position.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of arguments of the single machine-code instruction includes a result storage position reference;

wherein said generating the command message comprises including the result storage position reference in the command message; and

wherein the method includes processing based on a result of said executed command message located at the result storage position.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising caching at least one entry of command-message-building data structure.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising profiling a plurality of operations to determine how long or number of instructions to build a corresponding command message, and populating the command-message-building data structure with less than all of the plurality of operations based on the said how long or number of instructions to build the corresponding command message.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a hardware accelerator;

a memory-stored command message-building data structure;

a processor that executes a single machine-code instruction of a processor instruction set of the processor, with the single machine-code instruction including an OP code and a plurality of arguments, with the OP code specifying to the processor the operation of the single machine-code instruction that includes generating a command message based on the plurality of arguments;

wherein the plurality of augments includes a reference into the memory-stored command message-building data structure, a virtual address, and a copy position reference;

wherein said executing the single machine-code instruction by the processor includes generating the command message and initiating communication of the command message to the hardware accelerator, with said generating the command message including copying command information, that includes an identification of a plurality of operations. from the memory-stored command-message-building data structure based on the reference into the command message at a position within the command message identified based on the copy position reference;

wherein a translation of the virtual address is included in the command message;

wherein the hardware accelerator receives and executes the command message, with said executing the command message includes executing the plurality of operations.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor operates a plurality of threads, with each of the plurality of threads having shared-access to the memory-stored command message-building data structure.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, comprising a cache that stores a portion of the memory-stored command message-building data structure, with each of the plurality of threads having shared-access to the cache.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a hardware accelerator that receives and executes command messages;

a memory-stored command message-building data structure;

a plurality of processors, with each particular processor of the plurality of processors executing a single machine-code instruction of a processor instruction set of the plurality of processors, with the single machine-code instruction including an OP code and a plurality of arguments, with the OP code specifying to said particular processor the operation of the single machine-code instruction that includes generating a command message based on the plurality of arguments;

wherein the plurality of augments includes a reference into the memory-stored command message-building data structure, a virtual address, and a copy position reference;

wherein said executing the single machine-code instruction includes generating the command message and initiating communication of the command message to the hardware accelerator, with said generating the command message including copying command information, that includes an identification of a plurality of operations, from the memory-stored command-message-building data structure based on the reference into the command message at a position within the command message identified based on the copy position reference;

wherein each of the plurality of processors has shared-access to the memory-stored command message-building data structure;

wherein a translation of the virtual address is included in the command message.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein each of the plurality of processors operates a plurality of threads, with each of the plurality of threads having shared-access to the memory-stored command message-building data structure.