Information processing apparatus, information processing method, recording medium and information processing system

• US 9,626,217 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2015
• Issued: 04/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Sonoda, Shuhei, Takada, Masayuki, Miyakawa, Eiji, Nakayama, Hiroshi, Kawachi, Tsutomu
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Qing
• Application Number:
  US14/602,757
• Publication Number:
  US 20150143379A1
• Time in Patent Office: 817 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/20 using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2041 with more than one idle spare processing component
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/5021 Priority
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4818 Priority circuits therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5038 considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/505 considering the load

Abstract

There is provided an information processing apparatus including a receiver configured to receive a request to perform processing related to a task, from a first information processing apparatus which functions as a client on a network; a scheduler configured to, when a rank of a priority of the scheduler of the information processing apparatus among information processing apparatuses on the network is a first predetermined rank or higher, assign the task to one or a plurality of second information processing apparatuses which function as nodes on the network; and a transmitter configured to transmit a request to execute processing related to the task assigned to the one or the plurality of second information processing apparatuses.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, having a processor and memory, comprising:

a processor configured to divide an application into component tasks and to assign a task to of the component tasks to one or more apparatuses when a priority rank of the information processing apparatus is a predetermined rank or higher rank among other ranks of other apparatuses; and

a data interface configured to transmit a task execution request to execute processing related to the task to the assigned one or more apparatuses.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the processor stops functioning when the rank of the priority of the information processing apparatus is lower than the first predetermined rank.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, when the rank of the priority of the information processing apparatus is the first predetermined rank or higher and is lower than a second predetermined rank, the processor covers part of a function of another processor of another apparatus a rank of the priority of the other apparatus being the second predetermined rank or higher.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein, when a problem occurs in a function of the other processor of the other apparatus, the processor covers an overall function.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the priority of the information processing apparatus is calculated based on current processing capacity of the information processing apparatus.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the priority of the information processing apparatus is calculated based on a predicted value of future processing capacity of the information processing apparatus.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the priority of the information processing apparatus is calculated based on a communication state of the information processing apparatus.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the processor assigns the task according to processing capacity of the one or more other apparatuses such that the task achieves a predetermined service index upon execution of the task.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein the processor dynamically changes assignment of the task according to current processing capacity or a predicted value of future processing capacity of the one or more other apparatuses.

10. An information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus having a processor, the method comprising:

when a rank of a priority of the information processing apparatus among apparatuses on a network is a first predetermined rank or higher, dividing an application into component tasks and assigning a task of the component tasks to one or more other apparatuses which function as nodes on the network; and

transmitting a task execution request to execute processing related to the task assigned to the one or more other apparatuses.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having a program recorded thereon which causes a computer to execute:

a function of, when a rank of a priority of an information processing apparatus among apparatuses on a network is a first predetermined rank or higher, dividing an application into component tasks and assigning a task of the component tasks to one or more other apparatuses which function as nodes on the network; and

a function of transmitting a task execution request to execute processing related to the task assigned to the one or more other apparatuses.

12. An information processing system comprising a plurality of information processing apparatuses on a network, each having a processor, and further comprising:

a processor configured to divide an application into component tasks and to assign a task of the component tasks to one or more other apparatuses which function as nodes on the network; and

a transmitter configured to transmit a task execution request to execute processing related to the task assigned to the one or more other apparatuses,

wherein a function of a processor of, among the plurality of information processing apparatuses, an information processing apparatus whose rank of a priority is a first predetermined rank or higher is enabled, and functions of processors of other apparatuses are disabled.

13. The information processing system according to claim 12,

wherein the other apparatuses function as clients or the nodes.

14. The information processing system according to claim 12,

wherein, among the plurality of information processing apparatuses, an information processing apparatus whose rank of the priority is the first predetermined rank or higher and a second predetermined rank or higher functions as a master processor,

wherein, among the plurality of information processing apparatuses, an information processing apparatus whose rank of the priority is the first predetermined rank or higher and is lower than the second predetermined rank functions as a slave processor, and

wherein the information processing apparatus which functions as the slave processor covers part of the function of the processor of the information processing apparatus which functions as the master processor.

15. The information processing system according to claim 14,

wherein, when a problem occurs in a function of the processor of the information processing apparatus which functions as the master processor, the information processing apparatus which functions as the slave processor functions as the master processor instead.

16. The information processing system according to claim 12,

wherein the priority of the information processing apparatus is calculated based on current processing capacity of the information processing apparatus.

17. The information processing system according to claim 12,

wherein the priority of the information processing apparatus is calculated based on a predicted value of future processing capacity of the information processing apparatus.

18. The information processing system according to claim 12,

wherein the priority of the information processing apparatus is calculated based on a communication state of the information processing apparatus.