MANAGING TASK EXECUTION

• US 20100211953A1
• Filed: 02/12/2010
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ab Initio Technology LLC (Ab Initio Software Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Ab Initio Technology LLC (Ab Initio Software Corporation)
• Inventors: Buxbaum, Mark, Wakeling, Tim
• Granted Patent: US 9,886,319 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/506 Constraint
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5038 considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups

Abstract

Managing task execution includes: receiving a specification of a plurality of tasks to be performed by respective functional modules; processing a flow of input data using a dataflow graph that includes nodes representing data processing components connected by links representing flows of data between data processing components; in response to at least one flow of data provided by at least one data processing component, generating a flow of messages; and in response to each of the messages in the flow of messages, performing an iteration of a set of one or more tasks using one or more corresponding functional modules.

Claims

1. A method for managing task execution, the method including:

receiving a specification of a plurality of tasks to be performed by respective functional modules;

processing a flow of input data using a dataflow graph that includes nodes representing data processing components connected by links representing flows of data between data processing components;

in response to at least one flow of data provided by at least one data processing component, generating a flow of messages; and

in response to each of the messages in the flow of messages, performing an iteration of a set of tasks using corresponding functional modules, with dependency relationships between at least two of the tasks specified by the received specification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the functional modules is configured to initiate execution of the dataflow graph.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a dependency relationship between the at least two tasks defines at least a partial ordering for execution of the functional modules corresponding to the tasks.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a dependency relationship between the at least two tasks defines conditional logic for determine at least one condition upon which execution of at least one of the functional modules is based.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the functional modules includes a fault-handling module that is executed when the conditional logic detects that a fault has occurred in execution of one of the other functional modules.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple iterations of a given set of one or more tasks are executed concurrently in response to two or more messages in the flow of messages.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the messages in the flow of messages is generated in response to an element of data in the flow of data without including the element of data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the messages in the flow of messages includes at least a portion of an element of data in the flow of data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the functional modules is configured to send an acknowledgement in response to receiving one of the messages in the flow of messages.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of the data processing components resends an unacknowledged message.

12. The method of claim 1, further including storing a parameter value identifying the specification of a plurality of tasks.

13. The method of claim 12, further including transmitting the generated flow of messages to an application for receiving the messages identified by the parameter value.

14. The method of claim 13, further including storing messages received by the application in parameters visible to multiple processes for performing the tasks.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the specification includes a control flow diagram that includes nodes representing the functional modules connected by directed links representing flow of control between functional modules.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein control flows from a first functional module to a second functional module, with a directed link connected from the first functional module to the second functional module, after a task performed by the first functional module has been completed.

3. (canceled)

15. A system for managing task execution, the system including:

a task managing system including circuitry for receiving a specification of a plurality of tasks to be performed by respective functional modules; and

a data processing system including circuitry for processing a flow of input data using a dataflow graph that includes nodes representing data processing components connected by links representing flows of data between data processing components;

wherein the data processing system is configured to generate a flow of messages in response to at least one flow of data provided by at least one data processing component; and

wherein the task managing system is configured to perform an iteration of a set of tasks using corresponding functional modules in response to each of the messages in the flow of messages, with dependency relationships between at least two of the tasks specified by the received specification.

16. A system for managing task execution, the system including:

means for receiving a specification of a plurality of tasks to be performed by respective functional modules;

means for processing a flow of input data using a dataflow graph that includes nodes representing data processing components connected by links representing flows of data between data processing components;

wherein the data processing system is configured to generate a flow of messages in response to at least one flow of data provided by at least one data processing component; and

wherein the task managing system is configured to perform an iteration of a set of tasks using corresponding functional modules in response to each of the messages in the flow of messages, with dependency relationships between at least two of the tasks specified by the received specification.

17. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program for managing task execution, the computer program including instructions for causing a computer to:

receive a specification of a plurality of tasks to be performed by respective functional modules;

process a flow of input data using a dataflow graph that includes nodes representing data processing components connected by links representing flows of data between data processing components;

in response to at least one flow of data provided by at least one data processing component, generate a flow of messages; and

in response to each of the messages in the flow of messages, perform an iteration of a set of tasks using corresponding functional modules, with dependency relationships between at least two of the tasks specified by the received specification.