Methods and apparatus for multiple cluster locking

• US 20040093469A1
• Filed: 11/08/2002
• Published: 05/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sanmina-SCI Corporation
• Original Assignee: Newisys, Inc. (Sanmina-SCI Corporation)
• Inventors: Glasco, David B.
• Granted Patent: US 6,950,913 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/145
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0815 Cache consistency protocols

Abstract

Methods and devices are provided for controlling lock and unlock operations within a computer system. A home cluster includes a home lock manager. The home lock manager is a master lock manager for the home cluster and for a plurality of remote clusters, the plurality of remote clusters including remote cache coherency controllers and a plurality of remote processors. Lock and unlock commands from the home lock manager are transmitted by a home cache coherency controller to the remote cache coherency controllers and forwarded to the remote processors.

Claims

1. A computer system, comprising:

a home cluster comprising a plurality of home nodes, including a plurality of home processors and a home cache coherence controller, wherein the home nodes are interconnected in a first point-to-point architecture, wherein one of the plurality of home nodes comprises a home lock manager configured to broadcast a lock command to the plurality of home processors and the home cache coherence controller; and

a first remote cluster comprising a first remote cache coherence controller and a first plurality of remote processors, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller and the first plurality of remote processors are interconnected in a second point-to-point architecture and wherein the first remote cache coherence controller is configured to receive the lock command via the home cache coherence controller and to forward the lock command to the first plurality of remote processors.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of home nodes has access to a configuration register that indicates a lock manager location.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein each of the first plurality of remote processors has access to a configuration register that indicates a location of the first remote cache coherence controller as a first remote lock manager location.

4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the home cache coherence controller has access to a home Horus configuration register that includes a home lock manager location and a first remote cache coherence controller location.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller has access to a first remote Horus configuration register that includes a home lock manager location.

6. A computer system, comprising:

a home cluster comprising a plurality of home nodes, including a plurality of home processors and a home cache coherence controller, wherein the home nodes are interconnected in a first point-to-point architecture, wherein one of the plurality of home nodes comprises a home lock manager configured to broadcast a lock command to the plurality of home nodes and wherein each home node includes a home configuration register that specifies a location of the home lock manager as a recipient of home lock requests; and

a first remote cluster comprising a first remote cache coherence controller and a first plurality of remote processors, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller and the first plurality of remote processors are interconnected in a second point-to-point architecture, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller is interconnected with the home cache coherence controller and wherein each of the first plurality of remote processors includes a first remote configuration register that specifies a location of the first remote cache coherence controller as a recipient of first remote lock requests.

7. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller has access to a first remote Horus configuration register that specifies the home cache coherence controller as a recipient of first remote lock requests.

8. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the home cache coherence controller has access to a home Horus configuration register that specifies the first remote cache coherence controller as a recipient of lock commands received from the home lock manager.

9. A computer system, comprising:

a home cluster comprising a plurality of home nodes, including a plurality of home processors and a home cache coherence controller, wherein the home nodes are interconnected in a first point-to-point architecture and wherein one of the plurality of home nodes comprises a home lock manager; and

a first remote cluster comprising a first remote cache coherence controller and a first plurality of remote processors, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller and the first plurality of remote processors are interconnected in a second point-to-point architecture, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller is interconnected with the home cache coherence controller and wherein the first remote cache coherence controller is configured to act as a first remote lock manager for the first remote cluster.

10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the home cache coherence controller has access to a home Horus configuration register that includes a home lock manager location and a first remote cache coherence controller location.

11. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller has access to a first remote Horus configuration register that includes a home lock manager location.

12. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the home lock manager is configured to receive a home cluster lock request from any home node and to broadcast a lock command to all home nodes in response to the lock request.

13. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller is configured to receive a first remote cluster lock request from any of the first plurality of remote processors and to forward the first remote cluster lock request to the home cache coherence controller, wherein the home cache coherence controller is configured to forward the first remote cluster lock request to the home lock manager, and wherein the home lock manager is configured to broadcast a lock command to all home nodes in response to the first remote cluster lock request.

14. The computer system of claim 9, further comprising a second remote cluster comprising a second plurality of remote nodes interconnected in a third point-to-point architecture, the second plurality of remote nodes including a second plurality of remote processors and a second remote cache coherence controller, wherein the second remote cache coherence controller is interconnected with the home cache coherence controller and wherein the second remote cache coherence controller is configured to act as a lock manager for the second remote cluster.

15. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the home cache coherence controller is configured to receive the lock command from the home lock manager and to transmit the lock command to the first remote cache coherence controller, and wherein the first remote cache coherence controller is configured to forward the lock command to all of the first plurality of remote processors.

16. A method of controlling lock commands within a computer system, the method comprising:

receiving a lock request from a requesting home node of a plurality of home nodes in a home cluster, the home nodes comprising a plurality of home processors and a home cache coherence controller interconnected in a first point-to-point architecture;

broadcasting a lock command to all home nodes, the lock command responsive to the lock request; and

transmitting the lock command from the home cache coherence controller to a first remote cache coherence controller of a first remote cluster comprising a plurality of first remote processors interconnected in a second point-to-point architecture with the first remote cache coherence controller.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

forwarding the lock command to each remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors;

transmitting a first locked response from each first remote processor to the first remote cache coherence controller, the first locked response indicating that a remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors has complied with the lock command;

transmitting a first remote cluster locked response from the first remote cache coherence controller to the home cache coherence controller, the first remote cluster locked response indicating that each remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors has complied with the lock command.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the requesting home node is a home processor of the plurality of home processors.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the requesting home node is the home cache coherence controller, further comprising the steps of:

sending a lock request from a first remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors to the first remote cache coherence controller; and

relaying the lock request from the first remote cache coherence controller to the home cache coherence controller.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the transmitting step further comprises transmitting the lock command to a second remote cache coherence controller of a second remote cluster comprising a plurality of second remote processors.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

transmitting a home locked response from each home processor to the home lock manager, the home locked response indicating compliance with the lock command;

relaying the first remote cluster locked response from the home cache coherence controller to the home lock manager; and

sending a system locked response to the requesting home node after the home lock manager receives the home locked response and the first remote cluster locked response.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the forwarding step further comprises forwarding the lock command to each remote processor of the plurality of second remote processors and wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting a second locked response from each second remote processor to the second remote cache coherence controller, the second locked response indicating that one of the second remote processors has complied with the lock command;

transmitting a second remote cluster locked response from the second remote cache coherence controller to the home cache coherence controller, the second remote cluster locked response indicating that each second remote processor of the plurality of second remote processors has complied with the lock command; and

relaying the second remote cluster locked response from the home cache coherence controller to the home lock manager; and

wherein the step of sending a system locked response to the requesting node is performed after the home lock manager receives the home locked response, the first remote cluster locked response and the second remote cluster locked response.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the requesting home node is the home cache coherence controller, further comprising the steps of:

sending a lock request from a second remote processor of the plurality of second remote processors to the second remote cache coherence controller; and

relaying the lock request from the second remote cache coherence controller to the home cache coherence controller.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

receiving an unlock request from the requesting home node;

broadcasting an unlock command to all home nodes, the unlock command responsive to the unlock request;

transmitting the unlock command to the first remote cache coherence controller;

forwarding the unlock command to each first remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors;

transmitting a first unlocked response from each first remote processor to the first remote cache coherence controller, the first locked response indicating that one of the first remote processors has complied with the unlock command;

transmitting a first remote cluster unlocked response from the first remote cache coherence controller to the home cache coherence controller, the first remote cluster unlocked response indicating that each first remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors has complied with the unlock command;

transmitting a home unlocked response from each home processor to the home lock manager, the home unlocked response indicating compliance with the unlock command;

relaying the first remote cluster unlocked response from the home cache coherence controller to the home lock manager; and

sending a system unlocked response to the requesting node after the home lock manager receives the home unlocked response and the first remote cluster unlocked response.

25. A method of controlling lock commands within a computer system, the method comprising:

receiving a lock request from a requesting home node of a plurality of home nodes in a home cluster, the plurality of home nodes comprising a plurality of home processors and a home cache coherence controller interconnected in a first point-to-point architecture;

broadcasting a lock command to all home nodes, the lock command responsive to the lock request;

transmitting the lock command from the home cache coherence controller to a first remote cache coherence controller of a first remote cluster comprising a plurality of first remote processors interconnected in a second point-to-point architecture with the first remote cache coherence controller;

forwarding the lock command to each first remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors;

transmitting a first locked response from each first remote processor to the first remote cache coherence controller, the first locked response indicating that one of the remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors has complied with the lock command;

transmitting a first remote cluster locked response from the first remote cache coherence controller to the home cache coherence controller, the first remote cluster locked response indicating that each first remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors has complied with the lock command;

transmitting a home locked response from each home processor to the home lock manager, the home locked response indicating compliance with the lock command;

relaying the first remote cluster locked response from the home cache coherence controller to the home lock manager; and

sending a system locked response to the requesting home node after the home lock manager receives the home locked response and the first remote cluster locked response.

26. A computer program embodied in a computer-readable storage medium, the computer program comprising instructions which cause a computer to:

send a lock request to a home lock manager from a requesting home node of a plurality of home nodes in a home cluster, the plurality of home nodes comprising a plurality of home processors and a home cache coherence controller interconnected in a first point-to-point architecture;

broadcast a lock command from the home lock manager to all home nodes, the lock command responsive to the lock request;

transmit the lock command from the home cache coherence controller to a first remote cache coherence controller of a first remote cluster comprising a plurality of first remote processors interconnected in a second point-to-point architecture with the first remote cache coherence controller;

forward the lock command to each first remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors;

transmit a first locked response from each first remote processor to the first remote cache coherence controller, the first locked response indicating that one of the remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors has complied with the lock command;

transmit a first remote cluster locked response from the first remote cache coherence controller to the home cache coherence controller, the first remote cluster locked response indicating that each first remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors has complied with the lock command;

transmit a home locked response from each home processor to the home lock manager, the home locked response indicating compliance with the lock command;

relay the first remote cluster locked response from the home cache coherence controller to the home lock manager; and

send a system locked response from the home lock manager to the requesting home node after the home lock manager receives the home locked response and the first remote cluster locked response.

27. The computer program of claim 26, further comprising instructions that cause a computer to:

receive an unlock request from the requesting home node;

broadcast an unlock command to all home nodes, the unlock command responsive to the unlock request;

transmit the unlock command to the first remote cache coherence controller;

forward the unlock command to each first remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors;

transmit a first unlocked response from each first remote processor to the first remote cache coherence controller, the first locked response indicating that one remote processor of the first plurality of remote processors has complied with the unlock command;

transmit a first remote cluster unlocked response from the first remote cache coherence controller to the home cache coherence controller, the first remote cluster unlocked response indicating that each remote processor of the plurality of first remote processors has complied with the unlock command;

transmit a home unlocked response from each home processor to the home lock manager, the home unlocked response indicating compliance with the unlock command;

relay the first remote cluster unlocked response from the home cache coherence controller to the home lock manager; and

send a system unlocked response to the requesting home node after the home lock manager receives the home unlocked response and the first remote cluster unlocked response.

28. A computer system, comprising:

a home cluster comprising a plurality of home processors and a home cache coherence controller interconnected in a first point-to-point architecture, wherein one of the plurality of home processors comprises a home lock manager;

a first remote cluster comprising a first plurality of remote processors and a first remote cache coherence controller interconnected in a second point-to-point architecture, wherein the first remote cache coherence controller is interconnected with the home cache coherence controller and wherein the first remote cache coherence controller is configured to act as a first remote cluster lock manager by relaying signals to and from the home lock manager via the home cache coherence controller; and

a second remote cluster comprising a second plurality of remote processors and a second remote cache coherence controller interconnected in a third point-to-point architecture, wherein the second remote cache coherence controller is interconnected with the home cache coherence controller and wherein the second remote cache coherence controller is configured to act as a second remote cluster lock manager by relaying signals to and from the home lock manager via the home cache coherence controller.