Fault resilient/fault tolerant computing
First Claim
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1. A method of synchronizing data transfer to a computing element in a computer system, the computer system including the computing element and controllers that provide from data sources to the computing element, said method comprising the steps of:
- intercepting a request for data made by a computing element;
transmitting the intercepted request to the controllers; and
at least two controllers responding to the computing element in response to the intrecepted request, wherein at least a first controller responds by transmitting requested data to the computing element and by indicating how a second coontroller will respond to the intercepted request.
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Abstract
Data transfer to computing elements is synchronized in a computer system that includes the computing elements and controllers that provide data from data sources to the computing elements. A request for data made by a computing element is intercepted and transmitted to the controllers. At least a first controller responds by transmitting requested data to the computing element and by indicating how a second controller will respond to the intercepted request.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method of synchronizing data transfer to a computing element in a computer system, the computer system including the computing element and controllers that provide from data sources to the computing element, said method comprising the steps of:
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intercepting a request for data made by a computing element; transmitting the intercepted request to the controllers; and at least two controllers responding to the computing element in response to the intrecepted request, wherein at least a first controller responds by transmitting requested data to the computing element and by indicating how a second coontroller will respond to the intercepted request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of synchronizing data transfer to computing elements in a computer system, the computer system including the computing elements, data sources, and controllers that provide data from the data sources to the computing elements, said method comprising the steps of:
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intercepting a request for data made by a computing element; transmitting the intercepted request to the controllers; and responding to the intercepted request, through each of the controllers, by; determining whether an associated data source is expected to process the request; when the associated data source is expected to process the request, transmitting the request to the associated data source, receiving results of the request from the associated data source, and forwarding the results of the request to the computing element; and when the associated data source is not expected to process the request, informing the computing element that no data will be provided in response to the request.
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21. A method of maintaining synchronization between computing elements processing identical instruction streams in a computer system, the computer system including the computing elements and controllers that provide data from data sources to the computing elements, wherein the controllers operate asynchronously to the computing elements, said method comprising the steps of:
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at computing elements processing identical instruction streams, each computing element;
stopping processing of the instruction stream at a common point in the instruction stream, generating a freeze request message, and transmitting the freeze request message to controllers;at a controller;
receiving a freeze request message from a computing element, waiting for a freeze request message from other computing elements, and, upon receiving a freeze request message from each computing element processing an identical instruction stream, generating a freeze response message and transmitting the freeze response message to the computing elements; andat the computing elements processing identical instruction streams, each computing element;
upon receiving a freeze response message from a controller, waiting for freeze response messages from other controllers to which a freeze request message was transmitted, and, upon receiving a freeze response message from each said controller, generating a freeze release message, transmitting the freeze release message to controllers, and resuming processing of the instruction stream. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer system including:
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a computing element, data sources, and controllers that provide data from the data sources to the computing element, wherein; the computing element is configured to intercept a request for data made by software running on the computing element and to transmit the intercepted request to the controllers; and at least a first controller is configured to respond to the intercepted request by transmitting requested data to the computing element and by indicating how a second controller will respond to the intercepted request. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A computer system including:
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a computing element, data sources, and controllers that provide data from the data sources to the computing element, wherein; the computing element is configured to intercept a request for data made by software running on the computing element and to transmit the intercepted request to the controllers; and each controller is configured to respond to the intercepted request, by; determining whether an associated data source is expected to process the request; when the associated data source is expected to process the request, transmitting the request to the associated data source, receiving results of the request from the associated data source, and forwarding the results of the request to the computing element; and when the associated data source is not expected to process the request, informing the computing element that no data will be provided in response to the request.
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42. A computer system including:
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computing elements configured to process identical instruction streams, data sources, and controllers configured to provide data from the data sources to the computing elements and to operate asynchronously to the computing elements, wherein; each of the computing elements is further configured to; stop processing of the instruction stream at a common point in the instruction stream, generate a freeze request message, and transmit the freeze request message to the controllers; a controller is further configured to; receive a freeze request message from a computing element, wait for a freeze request message from other computing elements, and, upon receiving a freeze request message from each computing element, generate a freeze response message and transmit the freeze response message to the computing elements; and each of the computing elements is further configured to; upon receiving a freeze response message from a controller, to wait for freeze response messages from other controllers to which a freeze request message was transmitted, and, upon receiving a freeze response message from each said controller, to generate a freeze release message, transmit the freeze release message to the controllers, and resume processing of the instruction stream.
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Specification