Methods And Apparatus For Dynamic Redistribution Of Tokens In A Multi-Processor System

• US 20080112313A1
• Filed: 11/15/2006
• Published: 05/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Terakawa, Hiroaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,693,053 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/5021 Priority
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5011 the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals

Abstract

Methods and apparatus provide for: receiving tokens from a plurality of resources, where the tokens are exchange media for permitting a plurality of requesters to access an associated one of the resources for a period of time; allocating the tokens to respective requester groups into which the plurality of requesters have been assigned; receiving requests for one or more of the tokens from one or more of the requesters and granting, from the allocated tokens, one or more of the tokens to the requesters based on token granting criteria; and re-distributing unused tokens from one or more requester groups to one or more other requester groups based on priorities assigned to the requester groups; and dynamically altering the priorities assigned to the requester groups when a number of unused tokens of one or more of the requester groups has fallen below a threshold.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving tokens from a plurality of resources, where the tokens are exchange media for permitting a plurality of requesters to access an associated one of the resources for a period of time;

allocating the tokens to respective requester groups into which the plurality of requesters have been assigned;

receiving requests for one or more of the tokens from one or more of the requesters and granting, from the allocated tokens, one or more of the tokens to the requesters based on token granting criteria; and

re-distributing unused tokens from one or more requester groups to one or more other requester groups based on priorities assigned to the requester groups; and

dynamically altering the priorities assigned to the requester groups when a number of unused tokens of one or more of the requester groups has fallen below a threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a determination of whether the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold includes monitoring a number of requests for tokens from at least one requester group compared to a number of grants of tokens for the at least one requester group.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the threshold is X and the determination that the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold is affirmative when X≦

(requested−

granted) tokens.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the threshold is zero.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a determination of whether the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold includes monitoring a number of requests for tokens to the requesters of at least one requester group compared to a number of allocated tokens for the at least one requester group.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the threshold is X and the determination that the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold is affirmative when X≦

(allocated−

requested) tokens.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the threshold is zero.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a determination of whether the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold includes monitoring a number of grants for tokens to the requesters of at least one requester group compared to a number of allocated tokens for the at least one requester group.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the threshold is X and the determination that the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold is affirmative when X≦

(allocated−

granted) tokens.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the threshold is zero.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the token granting criteria includes granting token requests based on a priority of the requests for tokens.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the token granting criteria includes granting token requests on a round robin basis.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of parallel processors capable of operative communication with a plurality of resources;

a token manager circuit operable to;

(i) receive tokens from a plurality of resources, where the tokens are exchange media for permitting a plurality of processors to access an associated one of the resources for a period of time;

(ii) allocate the tokens to respective requester groups into which the plurality of processors have been assigned;

(iii) receive requests for the tokens from one or more of the processors, and (iv) grant, from the allocated tokens, one or more of the tokens to the processors based on token granting criteria, and (v) re-distribute unused tokens from one or more requester groups to one or more other requester groups based on priorities assigned to the requester groups; and

a controller circuit operable to dynamically alter the priorities assigned to the requester groups when a number of unused tokens of one or more of the requester groups has fallen below a threshold.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the controller circuit is operable to monitor a number of requests for tokens from at least one requester group compared to a number of grants of tokens for the at least one requester group to determine whether the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the threshold is X and the determination that the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold is affirmative when X≦

(requested−

granted) tokens.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the threshold is zero.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the controller circuit is operable to monitor a number of requests for tokens to the requesters of at least one requester group compared to a number of allocated tokens for the at least one requester group to determine whether the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the threshold is X and the determination that the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold is affirmative when X≦

(allocated−

requested) tokens.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the threshold is zero.

20. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the controller circuit is operable to monitor a number of grants for tokens to the requesters of at least one requester group compared to a number of allocated tokens for the at least one requester group to determine whether the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the threshold is X and the determination that the number of unused tokens has fallen below the threshold is affirmative when X≦

(allocated−

granted) tokens.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the threshold is zero.

23. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the token granting criteria includes granting token requests based on a priority of the requests for tokens.

24. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the token granting criteria includes granting token requests on a round robin basis.