Utilizing software locking approach to execute code upon failure of hardware transactional approach

• US 20050086446A1
• Filed: 10/04/2003
• Published: 04/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McKenney, Paul E., Krieger, Orran Y.
• Application Number:
  US10/679,076
• Publication Number:
  US 20050086446A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/163
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/526 Mutual exclusion algorithms

Abstract

Utilizing a software locking approach to execute a code section, upon failure of a hardware transactional approach, is disclosed. A method is disclosed that includes utilizing a hardware approach to transactional memory to execute a code section relating to memory. Where utilizing the hardware approach fails a threshold in executing the code section, the software approach is instead utilized to execute the code section relating to the memory. The threshold may include the hardware approach aborting execution of the code section a predetermined one or more times. The hardware approach includes starting a transaction inclusive of the code section, conditionally executing the transaction, and upon successfully completing the transaction, committing execution to memory. The software locking approach includes placing a lock on memory, executing the code section, committing execution of the code section to the memory as the code section is executed, and then removing the lock from the memory.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

utilizing a hardware approach to transactional memory to execute a code section relating to memory; and

,

where utilizing the hardware approach to transactional memory fails a threshold in executing the code section, utilizing a software approach to locking memory to execute the code section relating to the memory.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing the software approach to locking memory to execute other code sections relating to the memory.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the hardware approach to transactional memory to execute the code section comprises:

starting a transaction inclusive of the code section; and

,

conditionally executing the transaction.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein utilizing the hardware approach to transactional memory to execute the code section further comprises, upon successfully completing the transaction, committing execution of the transaction to the memory to which the code section relates.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein utilization of the hardware approach to transactional memory failing the threshold in executing the code section comprises the hardware approach to transactional memory aborting execution of the code section a single time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein utilization of the hardware approach to transactional memory failing the threshold in executing the code section comprises the hardware approach to transactional memory aborting execution of the code section a predetermined plurality of times.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein utilization of the hardware approach to transactional memory failing the threshold in executing the code section comprises utilizing a digital filter as the threshold in determining whether to utilize the software approach to locking memory to execute the code section.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein utilization of the hardware approach to transactional memory failing the threshold in executing the code section comprises utilizing information passed from a compiler to determine whether to utilize the software approach to locking memory to execute the code section.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein utilization of the hardware approach to transactional memory failing the threshold in executing the code section comprises tracking a success rate of the hardware approach to transactional memory in executing the code section to determine whether to utilize the software approach to locking memory to execute the code section.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the software approach to locking memory to execute the code section comprises:

placing a lock on the memory to which the code section relates;

executing the code section;

committing execution of the code section to the memory as the code section is executed; and

,

removing the lock on the memory to which the code section relates.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the software approach to locking memory to execute the code section comprises utilizing one of a queued lock, a non-uniform memory architecture (NUMA) lock, and a reader-writer lock.

12. A system comprising:

a processor having transactional memory capability; and

,

a memory storing a spin lock function to execute a code section by utilizing a software approach to locking memory where the transactional memory capability has initially failed a threshold in executing the code section.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected to one another, one of the plurality of nodes inclusive of the processor and the memory.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the memory further stores the code section, the code section programmed to call the spin lock function to execute, the spin lock function locking a portion of the memory to which the code section relates.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory further stores a spin unlock function that the code section calls to unlock the portion of the memory to which the code section relates.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the spin lock function initially utilizes the transactional memory capability in locking the portion of the memory to which the code section relates, and falls back to the software approach to locking memory upon the transactional memory capability failing the threshold in executing the code section.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the software approach is utilized to execute the code section where the transactional memory capability has failed to execute the code section a predetermined one or more times.

18. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer-readable medium; and

,

means in the medium for utilizing a software approach to locking memory to execute a code section where a hardware approach to transactional memory has failed a threshold in executing the code section.

19. The article of claim 18, wherein the means utilizes the software approach to locking memory to execute the code section where the hardware approach to transactional memory has failed to execute the code section a predetermined one or more times.

20. The article of claim 18, wherein the computer-readable medium is one of a recordable data storage medium and a modulated carrier signal.