Multi-event mechanism for queuing happened events for a large data processing system

• US 5,010,482 A
• Filed: 03/23/1989
• Issued: 04/23/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/1987
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Inventors: Traylor, Barry S., Keller, John A., Tickner, Robert H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas C.
• Application Number:
  US07/328,812
• Time in Patent Office: 761 Days
• Field of Search: 364/200 MS File, 364/900 MS File
• US Class Current: 710/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/544 Buffers; Shared memory; Pipes

Abstract

A mechanism for queuing a set of happened events in order of their occurrence and allowing for multiple occurrences to result in multiple processing iterations which mechanism maintains a multi-event table which is really a table of multi-event designations to be allocated to different processes upon request where the requesting processes assign a particular function with each multi-event entry and each of its own related event designations. The mechanism of the present invention maintains the state of such allocated multi-event entries in the multi-event table and signals the related or ("receiving") process that an event has happened within that set, and, if there are multiple events in the set which are happened, which of those events, occurred first by returning the events signature so that the particular system central processors assigned to execute those particular processes may then proceed with their execution and perform whatever processing is required for that particular event needing attention first.

Claims

1. In a processing system having at least one central processor and at least one memory module for storing a plurality of processes to be executed by said at least one processor, which processes require different events to occur before their execution can be completed, a multi-event queuing mechanism comprising:

input means coupled to said at least one central processor to receive a command to allocate one of an event token and a multi-event token to a process currently being executed;

event table means coupled to said input means to store status information about various events designated by allocated event tokens including whether that event token has been allocated and whether that event has occurred;

multi-event table means coupled to said input means and said event table means to store information about various events that have been grouped together designated by allocated multi-event tokens and to form a linked list of such events as each event occurs;

output means coupled to said event table means, said multi-event table means, and to said at least one central processor for transmission of a requested event token received from said event table means and a requested multi-event token received from said multi-event table means; and

control means coupled to said input means, output means, event table means, and multi-event table means to respond to said command and to maintain status of the various event tokens and multi-event tokens including whether they are available.

2. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein:

said control means includes a control store for transmission of sets of control signals to effect the operation of the multi-event table means and output means in response to the decoding of a command from said at least one central processor.

3. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 2 wherein:

said input means includes a message buffer coupled to said control store to store additional processor commands for decoding by said control store.

4. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 2 wherein:

said input means is coupled to said at least one central processor to receive a command to assign an event to a given group of events which group is designated by a multi-event token.

5. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 1 wherein:

said multi-event table means includes a set of status words for each said multi-event token to be allocated, one of said words containing a pointer to the first event in the group of events to have occurred and a second pointer to the most recent event in said group to have occurred; and

said event table means includes a set of status words for each said event token to be allocated, one of said words containing a pointer to the most previous event to have occurred and a second pointer to the next more recent event to have occurred.

11. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 1, 5, 6, or 10, wherein said control means is operable to selectively store in said multi-event table a count indicative of the number of times an event occurs.

6. In a processing system having at least one central processor and at least one memory module for storing a plurality of processes to be executed by said at least one processor, which processes require different events to occur before their execution can be completed, a multi-event queuing mechanism comprising:

input means coupled to said at least one central processor to receive a command to allocate one of an event token and a multi-event token to a process currently being executed;

event table means coupled to said input means to store status information about various events designated by allocated event tokens including whether that event token has been allocated and whether that event has occurred;

multi-event table means coupled to said input means and said event table means to store information about various events that have been grouped together designated by allocated multi-event tokens and to form a linked list of such events as each event occurs;

output means coupled to said event table means, said multi-event table means, and to said at least one central processor for transmission of a requested event token received from said event table means and a requested multi-event token received from said multi-event table means; and

control means coupled to said input means, output means, event table means, and multi-event table means to respond to said command and to maintain status of the various event tokens and multi-event tokens including whether they are available;

said control means changing the event status in said event table means to has occurred in response to a command received by said input means.

7. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 6 wherein:

said control means includes a control store for transmission of sets of control signals to effect the operation of the multi-event table means and output means in response to the decoding of a command from said at least one central processor.

8. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 7 wherein:

said input means includes a message buffer coupled to said control store to store additional processor commands for decoding by said control store.

9. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 7 wherein:

said input means is coupled to said at least one central processor to receive a command to assign an event to a given group of events which group is designated by a multi-event token.

10. A multi-event queuing mechanism according to claim 6 wherein:

said multi-event table means includes a set of status words for each said multi-event token to be allocated, one of said words containing a pointer to the first event in the group of events to have occurred and a second pointer to the most recent event in said group to have occurred; and

said event table means includes a set of status words for each said event token to be allocated, one of said words containing a pointer to the most previous event to have occurred and a second pointer to the next more recent event to have occurred.