Allocating heaps in NUMA systems

• US 8,700,838 B2
• Filed: 06/19/2012
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Concurix Corporation
• Inventors: Gounares, Alexander G.
• Primary Examiner(s): PEUGH, BRIAN R
• Application Number:
  US13/526,925
• Publication Number:
  US 20120317389A1
• Time in Patent Office: 665 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5016 the resource being the memory

Abstract

Processes may be assigned heap memory within locally accessible memory banks in a multiple processor NUMA architecture system. A process scheduler may deploy a process on a specific processor and may assign the process heap memory from a memory bank associated with the selected processor. The process may be a functional process that may not change state of other memory objects, other than the input or output memory objects defined in the functional process.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

operating a computer system comprising a plurality of processor groups and a plurality of memory banks, each of said processor groups having a corresponding one of said memory banks;

while operating said computer system, receiving a first process comprising instructions that operate on a first memory object;

selecting a first processor being contained in a first processor group, said first processor group corresponding to a first memory bank;

allocating first heap memory to said first process from said first memory bank; and

executing said first process on said first processor using said first heap memory.

2. The method of claim 1, said first process being a portion of an application, said application further comprising a second process.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

selecting a second processor being contained in a second processor group, said second processor group corresponding to a second memory bank;

allocating second heap memory to said second process from said second memory bank; and

executing said second process on said second processor using said second heap memory.

4. The method of claim 3, said first process being a functional block of executable code.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

determining that said first process is a functional block of code.

6. The method of claim 5, said functional block of code being determined by analyzing metadata associated with said first process.

7. The method of claim 5, said first process being identified as a functional process by static analysis of said first process.

8. The method of claim 7, said static analysis identifying a set of input data, a set of output data, and a set of state change data, said set of state change data being smaller than said set of input data.

9. The method of claim 8, said set of state change data being smaller than a sum of said set of input data and said set of output data.

10. The method of claim 4, said first process being defined using a functional language.

11. The method of claim 10, said functional language being one of a group composed of:

Erlang;

Scala;

F#;

Lisp;

Clojure;

OCaml; and

Haskell.

12. The method of claim 1, said selecting said first processor being performed in part by:

determining that said first processor has a processing bandwidth capable of performing said first process.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

analyzing a second processor corresponding to a second memory bank; and

determining that said second processor does not have processing bandwidth capable of performing said first process and not selecting said second processor for performing said first process.

14. A system comprising:

a plurality of processors, each of said processors belonging to one of a plurality of processor groups;

a plurality of memory banks, each of said memory banks being assigned to one of said processor groups;

a process scheduler that;

receives a first process comprising instructions that operate on a first memory object;

selects a first processor being contained in a first processor group, said first processor group corresponding to said first memory bank;

allocates heap memory for said first process within said first memory bank; and

executes said first process on said first processor.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising:

an operating system;

an execution environment within said operating system, said execution environment comprising memory management functions for executing code, said process scheduler operating within said execution environment.

16. The system of claim 15, said process scheduler being an operating system level function.

17. The system of claim 16, said first process being a portion of an application, said application further comprising a second process.

18. The system of claim 17, said process scheduler that further:

selects a second processor being contained in a second processor group, said second processor group corresponding to a second memory bank;

allocates second heap memory to said second process from said second memory bank; and

executes said second process on said second processor using said second heap memory.