Decoupling a central processing unit from its tasks

A computer system for decoupling a central processing unit (CPU) from its assigned tasks, said computer system comprising:

• a plurality of hot CPUs including a first CPU, said hot CPUs being managed by an operating system of the computer system;
• means for setting a special flag denoting that the first CPU is to be decoupled from its assigned tasks;
• means for setting a suitable scheduling policy and priority for a first special task coupled to the first CPU, the suitable policy and priority so chosen that the first special task gets enough continuous execution time to finish its job, said continuous execution time being defined as the amount of time allotted to a task for execution on a CPU, before another task is made to execute on the CPU;
• means for adding the first special task in a runqueue of the first CPU;
• and
• means for executing the first special task on the first CPU to examine the special flag;
• and
• means for decoupling the first CPU from its assigned tasks following a determination by the first CPU that the special flag has been set, subject to the first special task not relinquishing control of the first CPU and the first CPU being unable to execute any of its assigned tasks, and further subject to the decoupling of tasks from the first CPU leaving at least one remaining CPU of the plurality of hot CPUs and occurring while the at least one remaining CPU is hot.

A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code comprising an algorithm adapted to implement a method for decoupling a first central processing unit (CPU) from its assigned tasks, said method comprising the steps of:

• setting a special flag denoting that a first CPU is to be decoupled from its assigned tasks, said first CPU being comprised by a plurality of hot CPUs within a computer system, said hot CPUs being managed by an operating system of the computer system;
• setting a suitable scheduling policy and priority for a first special task coupled to the first CPU, the suitable policy and priority so chosen that the first special task gets enough continuous execution time to finish its job, said continuous execution time being defined as the amount of time allotted to a task for execution on a CPU, before another task is made to execute on the CPU;
• adding the first special task in a runqueue of the first CPU;
• and
• executing the first special task on the first CPU, said executing the first special task including examining the special flag and decoupling the first CPU from its assigned tasks after determining that the special flag has been set, said decoupling accomplished by having the first special task not relinquish control of the first CPU such that the first CPU is unable to execute any of its assigned tasks, said decoupling of tasks from the first CPU leaving at least one remaining CPU of the plurality of hot CPUs, said decoupling of tasks from the first CPU occurring while the at least one remaining CPU is hot.

A process for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer-readable code into a computer system, wherein the code in combination with the computer system is capable of performing a method for decoupling a first central processing unit (CPU) from its assigned tasks, said method comprising the steps of:

• setting a special flag denoting that a first CPU is to be decoupled from its assigned tasks, said first CPU being comprised by a plurality of hot CPUs within a computer system, said hot CPUs being managed by an operating system of the computer system;
• setting a suitable scheduling policy and priority for a first special task coupled to the first CPU, the suitable policy and priority so chosen that the first special task gets enough continuous execution time to finish its job, said continuous execution time being defined as the amount of time allotted to a task for execution on a CPU, before another task is made to execute on the CPU;
• adding the first special task in a runqueue of the first CPU;
• and
• executing the first special task on the first CPU, said executing the first special task including examining the special flag and decoupling the first CPU from its assigned tasks after determining that the special flag has been set, said decoupling accomplished by having the first special task not relinquish control of the first CPU such that the first CPU is unable to execute any of its assigned tasks, said decoupling of tasks from the first CPU leaving at least one remaining CPU of the plurality of hot CPUs, said decoupling of tasks from the first CPU occurring while the at least one remaining CPU is hot.