Entitlement vector for managing resource allocation

• US 9,558,034 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2014
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Tegreene, Clarence T., Gerrity, Daniel A., Glew, Andrew F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen, Wei
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chen, Zhan
• Application Number:
  US14/335,736
• Publication Number:
  US 20150020075A1
• Time in Patent Office: 928 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/485 Resource constraint
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/504 Resource capping
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/30145 Instruction analysis, e.g. decoding, instruction word fields
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/468 Specific access rights for resources, e.g. using capability register
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An embodiment or embodiments of an information handling apparatus can use an entitlement vector to simultaneously manage and activate entitlement of objects and processes to various resources independently from one another. An information handling apparatus can comprise an entitlement vector operable to specify resources used by at least one object of a plurality of object. The information handling apparatus can further comprise a scheduler operable to schedule a plurality of threads based at least partly on entitlement as specified by the entitlement vector.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media bearing at least;

one or more program instructions operable to provide one or more entitlement vectors including a plurality of fields configured to allocate user-predetermined rights to at least one of the one or more resources for usage by at least one of the one or more processes during execution;

one or more program instructions operable to determine usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes based at least in part on signals sensed by one or more sensors associated with the one or more resources;

one or more program instructions operable to allocate entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors based at least in part on the user-predetermined rights to the one or more resources and the determined usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes during execution; and

one or more program instructions operable to schedule the one or more processes based at least in part on the allocation of entitlement specified by the one or more entitlement vectors.

2. The computer program product according to claim 1 further comprising:

one or more program instructions operable to provide a plurality of instruction pointers;

one or more program instructions operable to indicate a plurality of threads for execution using the plurality of instruction pointers; and

one or more program instructions operable to allocate entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors including associating the plurality of instruction pointers and the plurality of threads.

3. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the one or more program instructions operable to provide one or more entitlement vectors includes:

one or more program instructions in at least one library operable to specify in the one or more entitlement vectors at least one of resources or capabilities associated with one or more processes in the at least one library.

4. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the one or more program instructions operable to determine usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes further includes:

one or more program instructions operable to monitor resource usage during execution of the one or more processes; and

one or more program instructions operable to indicate the resource usage in a usage vector.

5. A system for handling information comprising:

circuitry configured for providing one or more entitlement vectors including a plurality of fields configured to allocate user-predetermined rights to at least one of the one or more resources for usage by at least one of the one or more processes during execution;

circuitry configured for determining usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes based at least in part on signals sensed by one or more sensors associated with the one or more resources;

circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors based at least in part on the user-predetermined rights to the one or more resources and the determined usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes during execution; and

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes based at least in part on the allocation of entitlement specified by the one or more entitlement vectors.

6. The system according to claim 5, further comprising:

circuitry configured for providing a plurality of instruction pointers;

circuitry configured for indicating a plurality of threads for execution using the plurality of instruction pointers; and

circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors including associating the plurality of instruction pointers and the plurality of threads.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein:

the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors based at least in part on the user-predetermined rights to the one or more resources and the determined usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes during execution includes circuitry configured for associating a plurality of entitlement vectors with a plurality of threads; and

the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes based at least in part on the allocation of entitlement specified by the one or more entitlement vectors includes circuitry configured for scheduling the plurality of threads based at least partly on mutual comparison of the plurality of entitlement vectors.

8. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for assigning priority among the one or more processes using the entitlement as specified by the entitlement vector.

9. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for inserting random fluctuation into priority among the one or more processes.

10. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for inserting random fluctuation into priority among the one or more processes using a randomization algorithm that includes at least one of a Boltzmann search, a simulated annealing, a hop-around, an oscillation for detecting a local maximum, a comparing new to previous optimum, or a lateral computing technique.

11. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for modifying the one or more entitlement vectors to at least partially ensure correct context of entitlement during context switching.

12. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for modifying the one or more entitlement vectors using an algorithm that includes at least a library call operable to ensure correct context of entitlement during context switching.

13. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein the one or more entitlement vectors associated with the one or more processes are arguments of at least one function; and

circuitry configured for executing the at least one function.

14. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein the one or more entitlement vectors associated with the one or more processes and resource usage level are arguments of at least one function; and

circuitry configured for executing the at least one function.

15. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein the one or more entitlement vectors associated with the one or more processes, at least one weight, and resource usage level are arguments of at least one function; and

circuitry configured for executing the at least one function.

16. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein for a process, priority_i is determined by a comparison of weight times entitlement vector_i to resource usage level, over a plurality of cycles i; and

circuitry configured for executing the at least one function.

17. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein for a process, priority is determined at least partly by a comparison of a sum of weight times entitlement vector_i over a plurality of cycles i to resource usage level; and

circuitry configured for executing the at least one function.

18. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for determining usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes based at least in part on signals sensed by one or more sensors associated with the one or more resources includes:

circuitry configured for monitoring at least one of voltage or frequency signals indicative of resource usage associated with the one or more resources during execution of the one or more processes.

19. The system according to claim 5, wherein:

the circuitry configured for determining usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes includes circuitry configured for determining a data volume per unit time of at least one of computation or communication; and

the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes circuitry configured for allocating one or more data path widths based at least in part on the data volume per unit time of at least one of computation or communication.

20. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for modifying the one or more entitlement vectors based at least in part on the determined usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes during execution and comparing the modified one or more entitlement vectors to at least one of a user-set or default initial entitlement vector.

21. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for modifying the one or more entitlement vectors based at least in part on the determined usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes during execution and storing a history of the one or more entitlement vectors in an entitlement vector memory.

22. The system according to claim 5, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for modifying the one or more entitlement vectors based at least in part on the determined usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes during execution and merging the modified one or more entitlement vectors into an evolving entitlement vector.

23. The system according to claim 5, wherein:

the circuitry configured for determining usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes includes circuitry configured for determining a human perceptible data volume of at least one of computation or communication; and

the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes circuitry configured for allocating scaling at least one data resource based at least in part on the human perceptible data volume of at least one of computation or communication.

24. The system according to claim 5, wherein:

the one or more resources include;

at least one of one or more physical/logical resources or one or more operational resources, including at least one of;

one or more physical/logical resources including one or more of a processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics hardware, a network controller, a memory, a memory management, hardware, microarchitecture, a sound card, a video card, a network interface, an instruction set architecture (ISA), a library call, a library function, a software object, a compiler, or an operating system;

or

one or more operational resources including one or more of power, voltage, current, an electron, frequency, an execution cycle, battery consumption, battery life, a constraint, temperature, or a measurable phenomenon.

25. A system for handling information comprising:

circuitry configured for providing one or more entitlement vectors including a plurality of fields configured to allocate user-predetermined rights to at least one of the one or more resources for usage by at least one of the one or more processes during execution;

circuitry configured for determining usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes based at least in part on signals sensed by one or more sensors associated with the one or more resources;

circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors based at least in part on the user-predetermined rights to the one or more resources and the determined usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes during execution; and

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein the one or more entitlement vectors associated with the one or more processes include one or more arguments of least one function of the allocation of entitlement.

26. The system according to claim 25, further comprising:

circuitry configured for executing the at least one function.

27. The system according to claim 25, wherein the circuitry configured for determining usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for determining usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes based at least in part on signals sensed by one or more sensors indicative of a battery bias level that is recovering more slowly than a threshold level in response to usage of at least one of the one or more resources.

28. The system according to claim 25, wherein the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein the one or more of the entitlement vectors associated with the one or more processes include one or more arguments of the at least one function including at least a weight or a resource usage level.

29. The system according to claim 25, wherein the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein for at least one process, priority_i is determined by a comparison of weight times entitlement vector_i to resource usage level, over a plurality of cycles i.

30. The system according to claim 25, wherein the circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes includes:

circuitry configured for scheduling the one or more processes wherein for at least one process, priority is determined at least partly by a comparison of a sum of weight times entitlement vector_i over a plurality of cycles i to resource usage level.

31. A system for handling information comprising:

circuitry configured for providing one or more entitlement vectors including a plurality of fields configured to allocate user-predetermined rights to at least one of the one or more resources for usage by at least one of the one or more processes during execution;

circuitry configured for determining usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes based at least in part on signals sensed by one or more sensors associated with the one or more resources;

circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors based at least in part on the user-predetermined rights to the one or more resources and the determined usage of the one or more resources by the one or more processes during execution; and

circuitry configured for monitoring resource usage during execution of the one or more processes; and

circuitry configured for indicating the resource usage in one or more usage vectors.

32. The system according to claim 31, wherein the circuitry configured for allocating entitlement in the one or more entitlement vectors includes:

circuitry configured for modifying the one or more entitlement vectors based on the resource usage.

33. The system according to claim 32, further comprising:

circuitry configured for comparing the modified one or more entitlement vectors to a user-set or default initial entitlement vector.

34. The system according to claim 32, further comprising:

circuitry configured for storing a history of the one or more entitlement vectors in an entitlement vector memory.

35. The system according to claim 32, further comprising:

circuitry configured for merging the modified one or more entitlement vector into an evolving entitlement vector.

36. The system according to claim 31, further comprising:

circuitry configured for indicating, in a priority vector, priority for scheduling the one or more processes as a function of a combination of entitlement as specified by the one or more entitlement vectors and resource usage as specified by the one or more usage vectors.