Methods and systems for performing operations in response to detecting a computer idle condition

• US 20050149932A1
• Filed: 12/07/2004
• Published: 07/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X1 Discovery, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Future Search Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Hasink, Lee Z., Colwell, Steven Lee
• Granted Patent: US 7,945,914 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/485 Task life-cycle, e.g. stopping, restarting, resuming execution G06F9/4881 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention enable the efficient use of shared resources by different processes, such as background and foreground processes sharing a mass storage device. Thus, disk intensive operations, such as file indexing, do not unduly interfere with higher priority processes. In one embodiment, a first process is permitted to access a computer resource for a first predetermined time period After the first predetermined time period has elapsed, the first process is inhibited from accessing the computer resource for a second predetermined time period. After the second predetermined time period has elapsed, a determination is made as to whether the computer resource is idle, wherein if the computer resource is not idle, the embodiment waits for a third predetermined time period and again determining if the computer resource is idle, and wherein if the computer resource is idle, the embodiment allows the first process to access the computer resource again.

Claims

1. A method of determining when to perform a computer background process, the method comprising:

allowing the computer background process to access a computer resource for a first predetermined time period;

after the first predetermined time period has elapsed, inhibiting the computer background process from accessing the computer resource for a second predetermined time period;

after the second predetermined time period has elapsed, determining if the computer resource is being used by another process, wherein

if the computer resource is being used by another process, waiting for a third predetermined time period and again determining if the computer resource is being used by another process, and

if the computer resource is not being used by another process, allowing the computer background process to access the computer resource again.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer resource is a mass storage device.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer resource is a magnetic storage device.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer resource is a graphics processor or a network interface.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the act of determining if the computer resource is being used by another process includes reading a performance counter, wherein the second time period expires after the performance counter ceases to provide an indication that the background process is accessing the computer resource.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the second time period is selected to ensure that the determination act does not incorrectly indicate that the computer resource is being used by another process.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the act of determining if the computer resource is being used by another process includes reading a queue length associated with the computer resource.

8. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer resource includes a plurality of physical disk drives, and wherein the act of determining if the computer resource is being used by another process is based at least in part on queue lengths for the plurality of physical disk drives.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the background process is inhibited from accessing the computer resource when there is a non-zero queue length for the computer resource.

10. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the act of determining if the computer resource is being used by another process is performed using a virtual device driver.

11. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the act of determining if the computer resource is being used by another process is performed using one or more of a filter driver, a thunk, simple network management protocol, windows management instrumentation, or timing seeks.

12. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the background process is a file indexing process.

13. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the background process is a file indexing process and the foreground process is a word processor.

14. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the background process is a file indexing process and the foreground process is an email process.

15. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the background process is an indexing process that indexes one or more of email, files, or web pages.

16. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the foreground process is a word processor, a spreadsheet program, an email client, a database application, or a browser process.

17. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined time period to the second predetermined time period is about 20:

1, 10;

1, 9;

1, 8;

1, 7;

1, 6;

1, 5;

1, 4;

1, 3;

1, or 2;

1, or is a non-integer ratio.

18. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

allowing the computer background process to access a computer resource for a fourth predetermined time period; and

after the fourth predetermined time period has elapsed, inhibiting the computer background process from accessing the computer resource for a fifth predetermined time period, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined time period to the second predetermined time period is different than the ratio of the fourth predetermined time period to the fifth predetermined time period.

19. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining if the computer resource is being used by another process is based at least in part on one or more of:

the number of calls actively in a device driver associated with the computer resource;

when the last call was made into the device driver;

or

the number of total calls have been made into the device driver.

20. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining if the computer resource is being used by another process is based at least in part on one or more of:

information regarding the number of packets the computer resource has received;

or information regarding the number of packets waiting to be sent by the computer resource.

21. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining if the computer resource is being used by another process is based at least in part on how long a first computer resource operation took.

22. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining a load on the computer resource based on one or more of:

an average number of read and write requests queued for the computer resource during a sample interval;

an average number of read requests queued for the computer resource during a corresponding sample interval;

an average number of write requests queued for the computer resource during a corresponding sample interval;

or

a number of outstanding computer resource requests.

23. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the background process accesses a second computer resource during the second predetermined time period.

24. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the second predetermined time period is the same as the third predetermined time period.

25. A computer system that detects a computer resource idle condition, the computer system comprising:

a processor;

memory coupled to the processor;

a computer resource; and

program instructions stored in computer readable memory configured to;

enable a computer background process to access the computer resource for a first time period;

after the first predetermined time period has elapsed, prevent the computer background process from accessing the computer resource for a second time period;

determine if the computer resource is idle;

allow the computer background process to access the computer resource again if the computer resource is idle;

prevent the computer background process from accessing the computer resource for a third time period, if the computer resource is not idle, and after the third time period, again determine if the computer resource is being used by another process.

26. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the computer resource is a mass storage device.

27. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the computer resource is a magnetic storage device.

28. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the computer resource is a graphics processor or a network interface.

29. The computer system as defined in claim 26, further comprising a performance indicator used to determine if the computer resource is idle, wherein the second time period is selected to expire after the performance indicator ceases to provide an indication that the background process is accessing the computer resource.

30. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the second time period is selected to ensure that the idle determination does not incorrectly indicate that the computer resource is being used by another process.

31. The computer system as defined in claim 26, further comprising a queue length associated with the computer resource, wherein the queue length provides an indication as to whether the computer resource is idle.

32. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the computer resource includes a plurality of physical disk drives and associated queue lengths for the plurality of physical disk drives, wherein the queue lengths provide an indication as whether the plurality of physical disk drives are idle.

33. The computer system as defined in claim 26, further comprising a computer resource queue having an associated length, wherein the background process is inhibited from accessing the computer resource when there is a non-zero queue length for the computer resource.

34. The computer system as defined in claim 26, further comprising a virtual device driver that provides a computer resource idle indication.

35. The computer system as defined in claim 26, further comprising one or more of a filter driver, a thunk, simple network management protocol, windows management instrumentation, or disk seek timing instructions, that provide a computer resource idle indication.

36. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the background process is a file indexing process.

37. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the background process is a file indexing process and the foreground process is a word processor.

38. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the background process is a file indexing process and the foreground process is an email process.

39. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the background process is an indexing process that indexes one or more of email, files, or web pages.

40. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the foreground process is a word processor, a spreadsheet program, an email client, a database application, or a browser process.

41. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined time period to the second predetermined time period is about 20:

1, 10;

1, 9;

1, 8;

1, 7;

1, 6;

1, 5;

1, 4;

1, 3;

1, or 2;

1, or is a non-integer ratio.

42. The computer system as defined in claim 26, further comprising instructions stored in computer readable memory configured to:

allow the computer background process to access a computer resource for a fourth predetermined time period;

after the third predetermined time period has elapsed, inhibit the computer background process from accessing the computer resource for a fifth predetermined time period, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined time period to the second predetermined time period is different than the ratio of the fourth predetermined time period to the fifth predetermined time period.

43. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the idle condition is determined based at least in part on one or more of:

the number of calls actively in a device driver associated with the computer resource;

when the last call was made into the device driver;

or

the number of total calls have been made into the device driver.

44. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the idle condition is determined based at least in part on how long a first computer resource operation took.

45. The computer system as defined in claim 26, further comprising instructions stored in computer readable memory configured to determine a load on the computer resource based on one or more of:

an average number of read and write requests queued for the computer resource during a sample interval;

an average number of read requests queued for the computer resource during a corresponding sample interval;

an average number of write requests queued for the computer resource during a corresponding sample interval;

or

a number of outstanding computer resource requests.

46. The computer system as defined in claim 26, wherein the background process accesses a second computer resource during the second predetermined time period.

47. The computer system as defined in claim 26, further comprising the first process and the second process.

48. A method of allocating access to a computer resource, the method comprising:

permitting a first process to access a computer resource for a first time period;

after the first time period has elapsed, inhibiting the first process from accessing the computer resource for a second time period;

after the second time period has elapsed, determining if the computer resource is idle based at least in part on a computer resource performance indicator, wherein

if the computer resource is not idle, waiting for a third predetermined time period and again determining if the computer resource is idle, and

if the computer resource is idle, allowing the first process to access the computer resource again.

49. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the computer resource is a mass storage device.

50. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the computer resource is a magnetic storage device.

51. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the computer resource is a graphics processor or a network interface.

52. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the performance indicator is a performance counter, and wherein the second time period expires after the performance counter ceases to provide an indication that the first process is accessing the computer resource.

53. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the second time period is selected to ensure that the determination act does not incorrectly indicate that the computer resource is being used by another process.

54. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the performance indicator is a queue length associated with the computer resource.

55. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the performance indicator is a queue length associated with the computer resource, and wherein the first process is inhibited from accessing the computer resource when there is a non-zero queue length for the computer resource.

56. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the first process is a file indexing process.

57. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the first process is a file indexing process and the second process is one of a word processor or an email process.

58. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the first process is an indexing process that indexes one or more of email, files, or Web pages.

59. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the second process is a word processor, a spreadsheet program, an email client, a database application, or a browser process.

60. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined time period to the second predetermined time period is about 20:

1, 10;

1, 9;

1, 8;

1, 7;

1, 6;

1, 5;

1, 4;

1, 3;

1, or 2;

1, or is a non-integer ratio.

61. The method as defined in claim 48, further comprising:

allowing the first process to access a computer resource for a fourth predetermined time period;

after the fourth predetermined time period has elapsed, inhibiting the first process from accessing the computer resource for a fifth predetermined time period,

wherein the ratio of the first predetermined time period to the second predetermined time period is different than the ratio of the fourth predetermined time period to the fifth predetermined time period.

62. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the performance indicator provides information relating to one or more of:

the number of calls actively in a device driver associated with the computer resource;

when the last call was made into the device driver;

or

the number of total calls have been made into the device driver.

63. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the performance indicator provides information relating to one or more of:

the number of packets the computer resource has received;

or

the number of packets waiting to be sent by the computer resource.

64. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the performance indicator provides information relating to how long a first computer resource operation took.

65. The method as defined in claim 48, the performance indicator provides information relating to on one or more of:

an average number of read and write requests queued for the computer resource during a sample interval;

an average number of read requests queued for the computer resource during a corresponding sample interval;

an average number of write requests queued for the computer resource during a corresponding sample interval;

or

a number of outstanding computer resource requests.

66. The method as defined in claim 48, wherein the first process accesses a second computer resource during the second predetermined time period.

67. A system that allocates access to a computer resource, the system comprising:

computer readable memory; and

instructions stored in the computer readable memory configured to;

permit a first process to access a computer resource for a first time period;

after the first time period has elapsed, inhibit the first process from accessing the computer resource for a second time period;

after the second time period has elapsed, determine if the computer resource is idle based at least in part on a computer resource performance indicator, wherein

if the computer resource is not idle, cause the first process to wait for a third predetermined time period and again determine if the computer resource is idle, and

if the computer resource is idle, allow the first process to access the computer resource again.

68. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the computer resource is a mass storage device.

69. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the computer resource is a magnetic storage device.

70. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the computer resource is a graphics processor or a network interface.

71. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the performance indicator is a performance counter, and wherein the second time period expires after the performance counter ceases to provide an indication that the first process is accessing the computer resource.

72. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the second time period is selected to ensure that the determination act does not incorrectly indicate that the computer resource is being used by another process.

73. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the performance indicator is a queue length associated with the computer resource.

74. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the performance indicator is a queue length associated with the computer resource, and wherein the first process is inhibited from accessing the computer resource when there is a non-zero queue length for the computer resource.

75. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the first process is a file indexing process.

76. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the first process is a file indexing process and the second process is one of a word processor or an email process.

77. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the first process is an indexing process that indexes one or more of email, files, or Web pages.

78. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the second process is a word processor, a spreadsheet program, an email client, a database application, or a browser process.

79. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined time period to the second predetermined time period is about 20:

1, 10;

1, 9;

1, 8;

1, 7;

1, 6;

1, 5;

1, 4;

1, 3;

1, or 2;

1, or is a non-integer ratio.

The system as defined in claim 67, further comprising instructions stored in the computer readable memory configured to;

allow the first process to access a computer resource for a fourth predetermined time period;

after the third predetermined time period has elapsed, inhibit the first process from accessing the computer resource for a fifth predetermined time period, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined time period to the second predetermined time period is different than the ratio of the fourth predetermined time period to the fifth predetermined time period.

80. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the performance indicator provides information relating to one or more of:

the number of calls actively in a device driver associated with the computer resource;

when the last call was made into the device driver;

or

the number of total calls have been made into the device driver.

81. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the performance indicator provides information relating to one or more of:

the number of packets the computer resource has received;

or

the number of packets waiting to be sent by the computer resource.

82. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the performance indicator provides information relating to how long a first computer resource operation took.

83. The system as defined in claim 67, the performance indicator provides information relating to on one or more of:

an average number of read and write requests queued for the computer resource during a sample interval;

an average number of read requests queued for the computer resource during a corresponding sample interval;

an average number of write requests queued for the computer resource during a corresponding sample interval;

or

a number of outstanding computer resource requests.

84. The system as defined in claim 67, wherein the first process is allowed to accesses a second computer resource during the second predetermined time period.