Operating-system-transparent distributed memory
First Claim
1. A distributed computing system comprising:
- a number of network-interconnected computer systems; and
a logical, distributed-computing layer, implemented from components of the network-interconnected computer systems, that providesone or more logical processors;
one or more logical caches associated with each logical processor;
a logical, distributed memory; and
a logical backing store.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various embodiments of the present invention provide distributed computing systems featuring an operating-system-transparent distributed memory that, among other things, facilitates shared-message-based inter-thread communication between intercommunicating threads executing concurrently on a single-processor computer system, concurrently and simultaneously on a multi-processor computer system, and concurrently and simultaneously on multiple, discrete computer systems. Certain embodiments of the present invention are implemented using a secure-platform architecture in which secure-platform code running on processors within a distributed computing system provide a virtual, or logical, computing platform on which operating systems and higher-level software can be layered. A distributed memory system is provided by the secure-platform layer, using an extension of the memory-management hardware, firmware, and software systems originally developed to support virtual memory in single-processor and multi-processor computer systems. In essence, logical processors, logical caches, logical memory, and logical mass-storage-device-implemented backing store are mapped onto the individual processors, caches, memories, and interconnected mass-storage systems of a number of discrete computer systems interconnected by high-speed networking.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A distributed computing system comprising:
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a number of network-interconnected computer systems; and a logical, distributed-computing layer, implemented from components of the network-interconnected computer systems, that provides one or more logical processors; one or more logical caches associated with each logical processor; a logical, distributed memory; and a logical backing store. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for extending a virtual address translation system of a local computer system to implement a logical, distributed memory, the method comprising:
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when a valid virtual page table entry for a virtual page cannot be found, seeking a physical instantiation of the virtual page in one or more memories of remote computer systems; when a physical instantiation of the virtual page is found in a memory of a remote computer system, moving the physical instantiation of the virtual page to local memory and updating the virtual page table; and when a physical instantiation of the virtual page is not found in a memory of a remote computer system, moving the physical instantiation of the virtual page to local memory and updating the virtual page table. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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Specification