Data processing in a hybrid computing environment

• US 8,141,102 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2008
• Issued: 03/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Aho, Michael E., Carey, James E., Stewart, Gordon G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Andy
• Application Number:
  US12/204,391
• Publication Number:
  US 20100058356A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,293 Days
• Field of Search: 719/313, 718/100, 712/31
• US Class Current: 719/313
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines

Abstract

Data processing in a hybrid computing environment that includes a host computer having a host computer architecture; an accelerator having an accelerator architecture, the accelerator architecture optimized, with respect to the host computer architecture, for speed of execution of a particular class of computing functions; the host computer and the accelerator adapted to one another for data communications by a system level message passing module; and a host application process executing on the host computer. Data processing such a hybrid computing environment includes starting, at the behest of the host application process, a thread of execution on the accelerator; returning, by the system level message passing module to the host application process, a process identifier (‘PID’) for the thread of execution; and managing, by the host application process, the thread of execution on the accelerator as though the thread of execution were a thread of execution on the host computer.

Claims

1. A method of data processing in a hybrid computing environment, the hybrid computing environment comprising a host computer having a host computer architecture, an accelerator having an accelerator architecture, the accelerator architecture optimized, with respect to the host computer architecture, for speed of execution of a particular class of computing functions, the host computer and the accelerator adapted to one another for data communications by a system level message passing module, a host application process executing on the host computer, the method comprising:

starting, by the system level message passing module at the behest of the host application process, a thread of execution on the accelerator;

returning, by the system level message passing module to the host application process, a process identifier (‘

PID’

) for the thread of execution; and

managing, by the host application process, the thread of execution on the accelerator as though the thread of execution were a thread of execution on the host computer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises managing the thread of execution as a child process of the host application process.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises receiving exit data by the host application process through the system level message passing module upon termination of the thread of execution on the accelerator.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises killing the thread of execution on the accelerator through the system level message passing module.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting by the system level message passing module termination of the host application process; and

killing, upon the termination by the system level message passing module, the thread of execution on the accelerator.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

executing, by the system level message passing module at the behest of the host application process, a wait function, including determining whether the thread of execution on the accelerator has terminated; and

advising the host application process, by the system level message passing module upon return of the wait function, that the thread of execution on the accelerator has terminated.

7. A hybrid computing environment comprising a host computer having a host computer architecture, an accelerator having an accelerator architecture, the accelerator architecture optimized, with respect to the host computer architecture, for speed of execution of a particular class of computing functions, the host computer and the accelerator adapted to one another for data communications by a system level message passing module, a host application process executing on the host computer, the system level message passing module comprising computer program instructions capable of:

starting, at the behest of the host application process, a thread of execution on the accelerator, and returning, to the host application process, a process identifier (‘

PID’

) for the thread of execution; and

the host application process comprising computer program instructions capable of managing the thread of execution on the accelerator as though the thread of execution were a thread of execution on the host computer.

8. The hybrid computing environment of claim 7 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises managing the thread of execution as a child process of the host application process.

9. The hybrid computing environment of claim 7 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises receiving exit data by the host application process through the system level message passing module upon termination of the thread of execution on the accelerator.

10. The hybrid computing environment of claim 7 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises killing the thread of execution on the accelerator through the system level message passing module.

11. The hybrid computing environment of claim 7 further comprising computer program instructions capable of:

detecting by the system level message passing module termination of the host application process; and

killing, upon the termination by the system level message passing module, the thread of execution on the accelerator.

12. The hybrid computing environment of claim 7 further comprising computer program instructions capable of:

executing, by the system level message passing module at the behest of the host application process, a wait function, including determining whether the thread of execution on the accelerator has terminated; and

advising the host application process, by the system level message passing module upon return of the wait function, that the thread of execution on the accelerator has terminated.

13. A computer program product for data processing in a hybrid computing environment, the hybrid computing environment comprising a host computer having a host computer architecture, an accelerator having an accelerator architecture, the accelerator architecture optimized, with respect to the host computer architecture, for speed of execution of a particular class of computing functions, the host computer and the accelerator adapted to one another for data communications by a system level message passing module, a host application process executing on the host computer;

the computer program product disposed upon a recordable non-transmission computer readable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions capable of;

starting, by the system level message passing module at the behest of the host application process, a thread of execution on the accelerator;

returning, by the system level message passing module to the host application process, a process identifier (‘

PID’

) for the thread of execution; and

managing, by the host application process, the thread of execution on the accelerator as though the thread of execution were a thread of execution on the host computer.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises managing the thread of execution as a child process of the host application process.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises receiving exit data by the host application process through the system level message passing module upon termination of the thread of execution on the accelerator.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein managing the thread of execution further comprises killing the thread of execution on the accelerator through the system level message passing module.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising computer program instructions capable of:

detecting by the system level message passing module termination of the host application process; and

killing, upon the termination by the system level message passing module, the thread of execution on the accelerator.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising computer program instructions capable of:

executing, by the system level message passing module at the behest of the host application process, a wait function, including determining whether the thread of execution on the accelerator has terminated; and

advising the host application process, by the system level message passing module upon return of the wait function, that the thread of execution on the accelerator has terminated.