METHOD FOR CONTROLLING TASK MIGRATION OF TASK IN HETEROGENEOUS MULTI-CORE SYSTEM BASED ON DYNAMIC MIGRATION THRESHOLD AND RELATED COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

• US 20140173623A1
• Filed: 03/25/2013
• Published: 06/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: MediaTek, Inc.
• Original Assignee: MediaTek, Inc.
• Inventors: Tan, Koan-Sin, Chang, Shu-Hsin, Hu, Chun-Hsiung
• Application Number:
  US13/850,281
• Publication Number:
  US 20140173623A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/105
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/5022 Workload threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5088 involving task migration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5094 where the allocation takes into account power or heat criteria power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A method for controlling a task migration of a task in a heterogeneous multi-core system having at least a first cluster and a second cluster is provided. The method may include at least the following steps: dynamically adjusting a migration threshold; comparing a load of the task running on one core of the first cluster with the migration threshold, and accordingly generating a comparison result; and selectively controlling the task to migrate to the second cluster according to at least the comparison result, wherein each core in the first cluster has first processor architecture, and each core in the second cluster has second processor architecture different from the first processor architecture.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a task migration of a task in a heterogeneous multi-core system having at least a first cluster and a second cluster, the method comprising:

dynamically adjusting a migration threshold;

comparing a load of the task running on one core of the first cluster with the migration threshold, and accordingly generating a comparison result; and

selectively controlling the task to migrate to the second cluster according to at least the comparison result, wherein each core in the first cluster has first processor architecture, and each core in the second cluster has second processor architecture different from the first processor architecture.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of dynamically adjusting the migration threshold comprises:

dynamically adjusting the migration threshold according to a system situation of the heterogeneous multi-core system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the system situation includes at least one performance-related factor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one performance-related factor includes at least one of a central processing unit (CPU) usage per core/cluster, a predicted CPU usage per core/cluster, a number of tasks per core/cluster, and a load difference between cores/clusters.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the system situation includes at least one power-related factor.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one power-related factor includes at least one of a power budge per core/cluster, a power consumption per core/cluster, and a power constraint per core/cluster.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of selectively controlling the task to migrate to the second cluster comprises:

referring to the comparison result and a task priority setting of the task to selectively control the task to migrate to the second cluster.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

estimating a current available capacity of the second cluster;

wherein the step of selectively controlling the task to migrate to the second cluster comprises;

referring to the comparison result and the estimated current available capacity of the second cluster to selectively control the task to migrate to the second cluster.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the task is prevented from migrating to the second cluster as long as the estimated current available capacity of the second cluster is insufficient for the task.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling the task to migrate to the first cluster; and

stopping a task migration in the heterogeneous multi-core system for a predetermined period of time since the task has been migrated to the first cluster.

11. A method for controlling a task migration of a task in a heterogeneous multi-core system having at least a first cluster and a second cluster, the method comprising:

estimating a current available capacity of the second cluster; and

selectively controlling the task running on one core of the first cluster to migrate to the second cluster according to at least the estimated current available capacity, wherein each core in the first cluster has first processor architecture, and each core in the second cluster has second processor architecture different from the first processor architecture.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the task is prevented from migrating to the second cluster as long as the estimated current available capacity of the second cluster is insufficient for the task.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program code, wherein when executed by a heterogeneous multi-core system having at least a first cluster and a second cluster, the program code is operative to perform a task migration control method comprising:

dynamically adjusting a migration threshold;

comparing a load of a task running on one core of the first cluster with the migration threshold, and accordingly generating a comparison result; and

selectively controlling the task to migrate to the second cluster according to at least the comparison result, wherein each core in the first cluster has first processor architecture, and each core in the second cluster has second processor architecture different from the first processor architecture.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the step of dynamically adjusting the migration threshold comprises:

dynamically adjusting the migration threshold according to a system situation of the heterogeneous multi-core system.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the system situation includes at least one performance-related factor.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one performance-related factor includes at least one of a central processing unit (CPU) usage per core/cluster, a predicted CPU usage per core/cluster, a number of tasks per core/cluster, and a load difference between cores/clusters.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the system situation includes at least one power-related factor.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the at least one power-related factor includes at least one of a power budge per core/cluster, a power consumption per core/cluster, and a power constraint per core/cluster.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the step of selectively controlling the task to migrate to the second cluster comprises:

referring to the comparison result and a task priority setting of the task to selectively control the task to migrate to the second cluster.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the task migration control method further comprises:

estimating a current available capacity of the second cluster;

wherein the step of selectively controlling the task to migrate to the second cluster comprises;

referring to the comparison result and the estimated current available capacity to selectively control the task to migrate to the second cluster.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the task is prevented from migrating to the second cluster as long as the estimated current available capacity of the second cluster is insufficient for the task.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the task migration control method further comprises:

controlling the task to migrate to the first cluster; and

stopping a task migration in the heterogeneous multi-core system for a predetermined period of time since the task has been migrated to the first cluster.

23. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program code, wherein when executed by a heterogeneous multi-core system having at least a first cluster and a second cluster, the program code is operative to perform a task migration control method comprising:

estimating a current available capacity of the second cluster; and

selectively controlling a task running on one core of the first cluster to migrate to the second cluster according to at least the estimated current available capacity, wherein each core in the first cluster has first processor architecture, and each core in the second cluster has second processor architecture different from the first processor architecture.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the task is prevented from migrating to the second cluster as long as the estimated current available capacity of the second cluster is not sufficient for the task.