Operating system support for game mode

• US 10,248,459 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2016
• Issued: 04/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Colombo, Gregory John, Seetharaman, Logananth, Wong, Graham, Iyigun, Mehmet, Pronovost, Steven Michel, Fahrig, Thomas, Jones, Thobias, Crandall, Michael Charles, Goossen, James Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Van H
• Application Number:
  US15/199,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20170269968A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,006 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5011 the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5027 the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein are related to systems, methods, and computer readable medium for allocating one or more system resources for the exclusive use of an application. The embodiments include receiving a request for an exclusive allocation of one or more system resources for a first application, the one or more system resources being useable by the first application and one or more second applications; determining an appropriate amount of the one or more system resources that are to be allocated exclusively to the first application; and partitioning the one or more system resources into a first portion that is allocated for the exclusive use of the first application and a second portion that is not allocated for the exclusive use of the first application, the second portion being available for the use of the one or more second applications.

Claims

1. A computing system for allocating one or more system resources for the exclusive use of an application, the computing system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one storage device having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing system to;

receive a request for an exclusive allocation of one or more system resources for a first application, the one or more system resources being useable by the first application and one or more second applications, wherein receiving the request for the exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources comprises a negotiation process that includes;

receiving an inquiry about a maximum amount of the one or more system resources that can be allocated to the exclusive use of the first application;

responding to the inquiry by providing the maximum amount of the one or more system resources that can be allocated to the exclusive use of the first application;

receiving information that specifies an amount of the one or more system resources that the first application desires for its exclusive use; and

determining if the first application is to be given the exclusive use of the one or more system resources specified in the received information;

determine an appropriate amount of the one or more system resources that are to be allocated exclusively to the first application;

partition the one or more system resources into a first portion that is allocated for the exclusive use of the first application and a second portion that is not allocated for the exclusive use of the first application, the second portion being available for the use of the one or more second applications; and

provide an indication of a disposition of the request, the indication including information detailing which specific system resources were selected for inclusion in the first portion.

2. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the first application is a game.

3. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the request for an exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources is received from the first application.

4. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the request for an exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources is received from a proxy component on behalf of the first application.

5. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein receiving a request for the exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources comprises exposing an Application Programming Interface (API) where the request can be made.

6. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the computing system is further caused to perform the following:

determine if the first application is an application that is approved for the exclusive use of the one or more system resources; and

when it is determined that the first application is not approved for the exclusive use of the one or more system resources, decline the request for the exclusive use of the one or more system resources.

7. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the computing system is further caused to perform the following:

determine if the first application is active; and

when it is determined that the first application is not active, decline the request for the exclusive use of the one or more system resources.

8. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein determining an appropriate amount of the one or more system resources that are to be allocated exclusively to the first application comprises:

determining that the amount of the one or more system resources requested for the exclusive use of the first application is to be provided to the first application.

9. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein determining an appropriate amount of the one or more system resources that are to be allocated exclusively to the first application comprises:

determining that providing the amount of the one or more system resources requested for the exclusive use of the first application to the first application will leave enough of the system resources for the use of the one or more second applications.

10. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein determining an appropriate amount of the one or more system resources that are to be allocated exclusively to the first application comprises:

determining that a third application is entitled to the exclusive use of the one or more system resources in the same manner as the first application; and

determining an amount of the one or more system resources to be provided to the first application that will leave enough of the one or more system resources for the exclusive use of the third application and for the use of the one or more second applications.

11. The computing system according to claim 10, wherein the first and third applications are assigned a priority for exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources such that the one of the first and third application having a higher priority is allocated a larger exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources.

12. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein determining an appropriate amount of the one or more system resources that are to be allocated exclusively to the first application comprises:

determining a resource usage history for the first application, wherein when the first application has a resource usage history of using less than the requested exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources, the first application is allocated less than the requested allocation for its exclusive use.

13. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the computing system is further caused to perform the following:

open a broadcast channel to one or more system components of the computing system, the broadcast channel requesting that the one or more system components delay low-priority operations so that the requested exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources can be provided to the first application.

14. The computing system according to claim 1, wherein the computing system is further caused to perform the following:

determine that an overall computing system performance is below an acceptable level; and

determine a new allocation of the one or more system resources for the exclusive use of the first application that is less than a current allocation.

15. A computer system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable hardware storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, instantiates;

a resource manager configured to partition one or more system resources for exclusive use of an application, wherein partitioning the one or more system resources is performed in response to a request for the partitioning, the resource the resource manager comprising;

a negotiation module configured to negotiate with the application to determine an allocation of the one or more system resources that the application desires for its exclusive use, wherein negotiating with the application includes;

receiving an inquiry about a maximum amount of the one or more system resources that can be allocated to exclusive use by the first application;

responding to the inquiry by providing the maximum amount of the one or more system resources that can be allocated to the exclusive use of the first application;

receiving information that specifies an amount of the one or more system resources that the first application desires for its exclusive use; and

determining if the first application is to be given the exclusive use of the one or more system resources specified in the received information;

an access module configured to verify that the application is authorized for the allocation of the one or more system resources for its exclusive use; and

a partitioning module configured to partition the one or more system resources so as to provide the desired allocation of the one or more system resources for the exclusive use of the application,

wherein execution of the computer-executable instructions further causes the computer system to provide an indication of a disposition of the request, the indication including information detailing which specific system resources were selected to provide the desired allocation.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein execution of the computer-executable instructions further causes the one or more processors to instantiate:

a monitor module configured to monitor the application for use of the allocation of the system resources for the application'"'"'s exclusive use.

17. A method of allocating one or more system resources for the exclusive use of an application, the method comprising:

receiving a request for an exclusive allocation of one or more system resources for a first application, the one or more system resources being useable by the first application and one or more second applications, wherein receiving the request for the exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources comprises a negotiation process, the negotiation process comprising;

receiving an inquiry about a maximum amount of the one or more system resources that can be allocated to the exclusive use of the first application;

responding to the inquiry by providing the maximum amount of the one or more system resources that can be allocated to the exclusive use of the first application;

receiving information that specifies an amount of the one or more system resources that the first application desires for its exclusive use; and

determining if the first application is to be given the exclusive use of the one or more system resources specified in the received information;

determining an appropriate amount of the one or more system resources that are to be allocated exclusively to the first application;

partitioning the one or more system resources into a first portion that is allocated for the exclusive use of the first application and a second portion that is not allocated for the exclusive use of the first application, the second portion being available for the use of the one or more second applications; and

providing an indication of a disposition of the request, the indication including information detailing which specific system resources were selected for inclusion in the first portion.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the request for an exclusive allocation of the one or more system resources is received from a proxy component on behalf of the first application or is received from the first application.