Hardware task manager

• US 7,653,710 B2
• Filed: 05/21/2003
• Issued: 01/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cornami, Inc.
• Original Assignee: QST Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Hogenauer, Eugene B., Scheuermann, W. James
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder; Patrice
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOSSAIN, TANIM M
• Application Number:
  US10/443,501
• Publication Number:
  US 20040025159A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,442 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/233, 718/102, 718/107, 710/20
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/28 using burst mode transfer, e.g. direct memory access DMA, cycle steal G06F13/32 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/17331 Distributed shared memory [DSM], e.g. remote direct memory access [RDMA]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0613 in relation to throughput
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0656 Data buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0659 Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0673 Single storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores

Abstract

A hardware task manager for managing operations in an adaptive computing system. The task manager indicates when input and output buffer resources are sufficient to allow a task to execute. The task can require an arbitrary number of input values from one or more other (or the same) tasks. Likewise, a number of output buffers must also be available before the task can start to execute and store results in the output buffers. The hardware task manager maintains a counter in association with each input and output buffer. For input buffers, a negative value for the counter means that there is no data in the buffer and, hence, the respective input buffer is not ready or available. Thus, the associated task can not run. Predetermined numbers of bytes, or “units,” are stored into the input buffer and an associated counter is incremented. When the counter value transitions from a negative value to a zero the high-order bit of the counter is cleared, thereby indicating the input buffer has sufficient data and is available to be processed by a task.

Claims

1. A hardware task manager in a corresponding hardware node of a processing system for managing created tasks run on the hardware node, each created task being configured to use one or more input ports to obtain data from one or more producing tasks run on one or more producing hardware nodes of the processing system, each created task being further configured to use one or more output ports to provide data to one or more consuming tasks run on one or more consuming hardware nodes of the processing system, each input port of each created task being associated with a corresponding buffer, the hardware task manager comprising a state machine component configured to:

identify each created task;

provide a ports count for each created task that indicates how many of the one or more input ports and the one or more output ports that are needed for the created task to be ready to run are available to the created task, each input port being available to the created task when a predetermined amount of data produced by one of the one or more producing tasks and needed by the created task to begin consuming data is available in the corresponding buffer, each output port being available to the created task when a predetermined amount of capacity needed by the created task to begin producing data for consumption by one of the one or more consuming tasks is available in the corresponding buffer; and

provide a task state for each created task that indicates when the created task is ready to run based on the ports count for the created task.

2. The hardware task manager of claim 1, further comprising a processing component configured to:

identify each input port for each created task;

provide a consumer count for teach input port of each created task that indicates how much data produced by one of the one or more producing tasks are needed by the created task to begin consuming data is available in the corresponding buffer;

wherein the state machine component is further configured to provide the ports count for each created task based on the consumer count for each input port of the created task.

3. The hardware manager of claim 2, the processing component further configured to:

identify each output port for each created task; and

provide a producer count for each output port of each created task that indicates how much of the capacity needed by the created task to begin producing data for consumption by one of the one or more consuming tasks is available in the corresponding buffer;

wherein the state machine component is further configured to provide the ports count for each created task based on the producer count for each output port of the created task.

4. The hardware task manager of claim 3, wherein the processing component is further configured to:

identify the one of the one or more producing tasks that will produce the data in the associated buffer for the input port;

identify the one of the one or more producing hardware nodes on which the one of the one or more producing tasks is run;

identify the one of the one or more consuming tasks that will consume the data in the associated buffer for the output port; and

identify the one of the one or more consuming hardware nodes on which the one of the one or more consuming tasks is run.

5. The hardware task manager of claim 1, wherein the hardware node includes a node wrapper configured to interface with an execution unit, and each created task is created to run on the execution unit.

6. The hardware task manager of claim 1, further comprising a ready to run queue configured to identify each created task that is ready to run based on the task state provided by the state machine component.

7. A hardware node of a processing system comprising:

one or more input ports to obtain data from one or more producing tasks run on one or more producing hardware nodes of the processing system;

one or more output ports to provide data to one or more consuming tasks run on one or more consuming hardware nodes of the processing system;

a hardware task manager for managing created tasks run on the hardware node, each created task being configured to use the one or more input ports to obtain data from one or more producing tasks run on one or more producing hardware nodes of the processing system, each created task being further configured to use one or more output ports to provide data to one or more consuming tasks run on one or more consuming hardware nodes of the processing system, each input port and each output port of each created task being associated with a corresponding buffer; and

wherein the hardware task manger composes a state machine component configured to;

identify each created task;

provide a ports count for each created task that indicates how many of the one or more input ports and the one or more output ports that are needed for the created task to be ready to run are available to the created task, each input port being available to the created task when a predetermined amount of data produced by one of the one or more producing tasks and needed by the created task to begin consuming data is available in the corresponding buffer, each output port being available to the created task when a predetermined amount of capacity needed by the created task to begin producing data for consumption by one of the one or more consuming tasks is available in the corresponding buffer; and

provide a task state for each created task that when the created task is ready to run based on the ports count for the created task.

8. The hardware node of claim 7, further comprising a processing component configured to:

identify each input port for each created task;

provide a consumer count for each input port of each created task that indicates how much data produced by one of the one or more producing tasks and needed by the created task to begin consuming data is available in the corresponding buffer;

wherein the state machine component is further configured to provide the ports count for each created task based on the consumer count for each input port of the created task.

9. The hardware node of claim 8, the processing component further configured to:

identify each output port for each created task; and

provide a producer count for each output port of each created task that indicates how much of the capacity needed by each created task to begin producing data for consumption by one of the one or more consuming task is available in the corresponding buffer;

wherein the state machine component is further configured to provide the ports count for each created task based on the producer count for each output port of each created task.

10. The hardware node of claim 9, wherein the processing component is further configured to:

identify the one of the one or more producing tasks that will produce the data in the associated buffer for the input port;

identify the one of the one or more producing hardware nodes on which the one of the one or more producing tasks is run;

identify the one of the one or more consuming tasks that will consume the data in the associated buffer for the output port; and

identify the one of the one or more consuming hardware nodes on which the one of the one or more consuming tasks is run.

11. The hardware node of claim 7, further comprising a node wrapper configured to interface with an execution unit, wherein each created task is created to run on the execution unit.