Dynamic runtime choosing of processing communication methods

• US 9,148,495 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2011
• Issued: 09/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cradick, Ryan K., Santosuosso, John M., Schulz, Brandon W.
• Primary Examiner(s): MacIlwinen, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moorad, Imran
• Application Number:
  US13/190,757
• Publication Number:
  US 20130031263A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,526 Days
• Field of Search: 709/230
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols

Abstract

Techniques are described for assigning and changing communication protocols for a pair of processing elements. The communication protocol determines how the pair of processing elements transmits data in a stream application. The pair may be assigned a communication protocol (e.g., TCP/IP or a protocol that uses a relational database, shared file system, or shared memory) before the operator graph begins to stream data. This assignment may be based on a priority of the processing elements and/or a priority of the communication protocols. After the operator graph begins to stream data, the pair of processing elements may switch to a different communication protocol. The decision to switch the communication protocol may be based on whether the pair of processing elements or assigned communication protocol is meeting established performance standards for the stream application.

Claims

1. A computer program product for processing data, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable memory having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code comprising computer-readable program code configured to;

establish an operator graph of a plurality of processing elements, the operator graph defining at least one execution path, wherein a first processing element of the plurality of processing elements is located on a first compute node and configured to transmit data to at least one downstream processing element, and wherein the first processing element is capable of transmitting data to the at least one downstream processing element by selecting either or both of a first and a second communication protocol, whereby the first processing element is capable of dynamically switching from the first communication protocol to the second communication protocol, and vice versa;

transmit data from the first processing element to the at least one downstream processing element using a selected one of the first and the second communication protocols;

determine, while the selected one of the first and second communication protocols is selected, whether to switch to the other of the first and second communication protocols; and

upon determining to switch, determine whether to move the first processing element from the first compute node onto a second compute node before transmitting data from the first processing element to the at least one downstream processing element using the other of the communication protocols.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable program code is further configured to:

prioritize at least one of the plurality of processing elements and the first and second communication protocol based on at least one of a predicted amount of data to be transmitted by each of the plurality of processing elements, a job the plurality of processing elements are associated with, the cost of the first and second communication protocol, a data transfer rate of the first and second communication protocol, and an energy cost of the first and second communication protocol; and

before transmitting data using the one of the first and second communication protocols, assign the first processing element to use the one of the first and the second communication protocol based on the prioritization.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein determining whether to switch is based on the prioritization.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the first communication protocol is an inter-nodal communication protocol and wherein the second communication protocol is an intra-nodal communication protocol.

5. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the first processing element is on a different compute node as the at least one downstream processing element when transmitting data using the first communication protocol, and wherein the first processing element is on a same compute node as the at least one downstream processing element when transmitting data using the second communication protocol.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein determining whether to switch from the first communication protocol to the second communication protocol is based on at least one of computer processing unit (CPU) utilization, page faults, system limitations of the first and second communication protocol, and contention between two of the plurality of processing elements using the first communication protocol.

18. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein determining whether to switch comprises:

in a first instance, switching from the first communication protocol to the second communication protocol; and

in a second instance, switching from the second communication protocol to the first communication protocol.

19. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the first processing element is communicatively coupled to the at least one downstream processing element by both the first and the second communication protocols simultaneously.

7. A system for processing data, comprising:

a computer processor; and

a memory containing a program that, when executed on the computer processor, performs an operation for processing data, comprising;

establishing an operator graph of a plurality of processing elements, the operator graph defining at least one execution path, wherein a first processing element of the plurality of processing elements is located on a first compute node and configured to transmit data to at least one downstream processing element, and wherein the first processing element is capable of transmitting data to the at least one downstream processing element by selecting either or both of a first and a second communication protocol, whereby the first processing element is capable of dynamically switching from the first communication protocol to the second communication protocol, and vice versa;

transmitting data from the first processing element to the at least one downstream processing element using a selected one of the first and second communication protocols;

determining, while the selected one of the first and second communication protocols is selected, whether to switch to the other of the first and second communication protocols; and

upon determining to switch, determining whether to move the first processing element from the first compute node onto a second compute node before transmitting data from the first processing element to the at least one downstream processing element using the other of the communication protocols.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the operation further comprises:

prioritizing at least one of the plurality of processing elements and the first and second communication protocol based on at least one of a predicted amount of data to be transmitted by each of the plurality of processing elements, a job the plurality of processing elements are associated with, the cost of the first and second communication protocol, a data transfer rate of the first and second communication protocol, and an energy cost of the first and second communication protocol; and

before transmitting data using the one of the first and second communication protocols, assigning the first processing element to use the one of the first and the second communication protocols based on the prioritization.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein determining whether to switch is based on the prioritization.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the first communication protocol is an inter-nodal communication protocol and wherein the second communication protocol is an intra-nodal communication protocol.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first processing element is on a different compute node as the at least one downstream processing element when transmitting data using the first communication protocol, and wherein the first processing element is on a same compute node as the at least one downstream processing element when transmitting data using the second communication protocol.

20. The system of claim 7, wherein determining whether to switch comprises:

in a first instance, switching from the first communication protocol to the second communication protocol; and

in a second instance, switching from the second communication protocol to the first communication protocol.

21. The system of claim 7, wherein the first processing element is communicatively coupled to the at least one downstream processing element by both the first and the second communication protocols simultaneously.

12. A computer program product for processing data, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable memory having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code comprising computer-readable program code configured to;

establish an operator graph of a plurality of processing elements, the operator graph defining at least one execution path, wherein a first processing element of the plurality of processing elements is located on a first compute node and configured to transmit data to at least one downstream processing element, and wherein the first processing element is capable of transmitting data to the at least one downstream processing element by selecting one or more communications protocols from a plurality of available communications protocols;

transmit, by one or more computer processors, data from the first processing element to the at least one downstream processing element using the selected communication protocols; and

determine, based on one or more measures of performance for transmitting data using the selected communication protocols, whether moving the first processing element onto a second compute node will improve at least one of the measures of performance using one of the plurality of available communication protocols.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the one or more measures of performance include at least one of computer processing unit (CPU) utilization, page faults, limitations of the first and second communication protocol, and contention between two of the plurality of processing elements using the first communication protocol.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein determining whether to switch is further based on one or more factors not based on performance.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the one or more factors include at least one of operating costs of the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol, and deterioration of hardware components.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the first communication protocol is initially selected based on a determined priority over the second communication protocol.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the first communication protocol is initially selected further based on a determined priority for at least one of the plurality of processing elements.