System and method of dynamically loading and executing module devices using inter-core-communication channel in multicore system environment

• US 8,321,876 B2
• Filed: 06/19/2008
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: Lee, Kwang Yong, Kim, Dong Hwan, Kang, Dong Wook, Kim, Jae Myoung
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, VAN H
• Application Number:
  US12/142,714
• Publication Number:
  US 20090158297A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,622 Days
• Field of Search: 719/310, 719/314, 719/318
• US Class Current: 719/314
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5044 considering hardware capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/505 considering the load
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues

Abstract

Provided are a system and method for allocating a specific job or application to a specific slave core by using an inter-core-communication (ICC) channel and executing the job or application in a multicore system environment including the master core and a plurality of slave cores. The method of a master core, includes: initializing message transmission times; generating an event for processing a instruction received from an application program and generating a channel event message from the event; checking a process for transmitting the generated channel event message, and if a channel event message queue corresponding to an event transmitting request is not “FULL” of a previously-stored channel event message, transmitting the channel event message to a specific slave core to request for storing the channel event message; and returning a response of processing status to the request for storing the channel event message to the application program.

Claims

1. A method of dynamically loading and executing a module device of a specific slave core using an ICC (inter-core communication) channel in a multicore system environment including a master core and a plurality of slave cores, comprising:

receiving a channel event message generated by the master core through the ICC channel in order to process an instruction received from an application program;

storing the channel event message in a channel event message queue thereof; and

an event handler of the specific slave core interpreting the stored channel event message and executing one of a module device loading process, a module device executing process, and a module device deleting process,

wherein each slave core includes a second event handler configured to interpret channel event messages received from the master core via the ICC channel, and

wherein the module device executing process comprises;

the event handler interpreting the channel event message;

if the interpreted type of the message is a periodic message, a periodic event handler being invoked by an interrupt of a timer, and the periodic event handler fetching a channel event message from a periodic event message queue and interpreting the channel event message;

opening a module device requested by the application program according to a result of the interpretation to obtain a file descriptor, invoking a function of the module device by using the file descriptor, and executing the function;

if the execution of the function of the module device is completed, closing the module device to complete the module device execution; and

if the module device execution is completed, registering the channel event message in the periodic event message queue in the order of periods.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing of the channel event message in the channel event message queue comprises:

initializing a system environment of a communication driver between multicore internal processes provided to the ICC channel; and

checking whether or not a message queueing event exist in the communication driver between the multicore internal processes, storing the channel event message in the channel event message queue if the message queueing event exist, and executing another process if the message queueing event does not exist.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the storing of the channel event message in the channel event message queue further comprises checking the message queueing status in the communication driver between the multicore internal processes, if the message queueing status is normal, transmitting a normal response message to the master core, and if the message queueing status is abnormal, transmitting an abnormal response message to the master core.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the module device loading process comprises:

the event handler fetching an object code from an OS kernel of the specific slave core and loading the object code on a memory;

linking a code of the module device loaded on the memory and a kernel code with reference to a kernel symbol table; and

invoking a predefined initialization function of the linked module device and storing the initialization function in a device driver list of the kernel.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, if the interpreted type of the message is a non-periodic message, the module device executing process comprises:

interpreting the channel event message;

opening the module device requested by the application program according to a result of the interpretation to obtained a file descriptor;

invoking a function of the module device by using the file descriptor, and executing the function; and

if the execution of the function of the module device is completed, closing the module device to complete the module device execution.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein in the invoking of the function of the module device, if a type of the interpreted channel event message is a module device opening event, an open function is invoked, if the type is a module device closing event, a close function is invoked, if the type is a module device reading event, a read function is invoked, if the type is a module device writing event, a write function is invoked, and if the type is a module device control event, an ioctl function is invoked.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the module device deleting process comprises:

searching the module device in the device driver list of the kernel;

invoking a module device release function from the kernel; and

deleting the module device searched from the device driver list by using the module device release function.

8. A packaged processor having a system for dynamically loading and executing a module device using an ICC (inter-core communication) channel in a multicore system environment, the packaged processor comprising:

a master core having a first event handler configured to generate an event for requesting a module device loading process, a module device deleting process, or a module device executing process according to a request received from an application program, generate a channel event message from the event, and transmit the channel event message via the ICC channel; and

the plurality of slave cores configured receive channel event messages from the master core via the ICC channel and perform any of the module device loading process, the module device deleting process, and the module device executing process according to the channel event messages received from the master core,

wherein each slave core includes a second event handler configured to interpret channel event messages received from the master core via the ICC channel,

wherein each of the slave cores comprises;

an MC IPC (multicore inter process communication) driver storing the received channel event message in a channel event message queue; and

an ICC middleware,

wherein the ICC middleware comprises;

the event handler configured to interpret the channel event message stored in the channel event message queue, execute any of the module device loading process, the module device deleting process, and the module device executing process if the channel event message is a non-periodic channel event message, and store the channel event message in a periodic event message queue if the channel event message is a periodic channel event message; and

a periodic event handler configured to interpret the periodic channel event message stored in the periodic event message queue and perform any of the module device loading process, the module device deleting process, and the module device executing process according to an predetermined interrupt of a timer.

9. The packaged processor of claim 8, wherein each of the slave core is configured to handle the module device loading event for registering a module device, a module device executing event for executing functions of a module device loaded on the slave core, and a module device deleting event for deleting a module device loaded on the slave core.

10. The packaged processor of claim 8, wherein each of the master core and the slave cores has the ICC channel including an ICC middleware and an MC IPC (multicore inter process communication) driver to communicate with each other.

11. The packaged processor of claim 8, further comprising:

a bus shared by the master core and the slave cores; and

a memory shared by the master core and the slave cores.