Preemptive context switching of processes on an accelerated processing device (APD) based on time quanta

An accelerated processing device (APD) comprising:

• a shader core;
• and
• at least one command processor configured to:
• run a process on the shader core,
• detect a timer expiration indicating that a running time of the process is equal to or greater than a threshold time quanta,
• generate an interrupt corresponding to the timer expiration,
• receive, from an operating system, an instruction to stop running the process based on the generated interrupt, and
• stop running the process in response to the instruction received from the operating system.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, which, if executed, cause execution of a method comprising:

• running a process on an accelerated processing device (APD);
• the APD detecting a timer expiration indicating that a running time of the process is equal to or greater than a threshold time quanta;
• the APD generating an interrupt corresponding to the timer expiration;
• receiving, at the APD, an instruction from the operating system to stop running the process based on the generated interrupt;
• and
• stopping, at the APD, the process from running in response to the instruction received from the operating system.