US 6,389,446 B1Granted

Multi-processor system executing a plurality of threads simultaneously and an execution method therefor

AssigneeNEC Corporation

InventorSunao Torii

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A program is divided into several instruction streams, and each of them is executed as a thread. A thread processor executed the thread. The thread generates another thread, but one thread is controlled to make a fork operation at most once. Each thread is terminated in the order of generations. A thread manager may be shared with the several thread processors or be distributed to the several thread processors. The thread manager includes a thread sequencer and a thread status table. The thread status table manages execution status of each thread processor and parent-child relation. The thread sequencer requests a thread generation and permits its termination in accordance with the content of the thread status table. The thread processor can execute a thread speculatively.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A multi-processor system for executing a plurality of threads of instruction streams, which are provided by dividing a program into said instruction streams, wherein each of said plurality of threads is generated in response to a thread generation instruction inserted in said program and is terminated in response to a thread termination instruction inserted in said program, said system comprising:

a plurality of thread processors each for executing one of said plurality of threads, each of said plurality of thread processors generating one child thread invariably when it detects said thread generation instruction;
and
a thread manager for managing statuses of said plurality of thread processors and for generating an error signal when one of said plurality of thread processors tries to generate at least two child threads due to plural thread generation instructions within one thread execution,
wherein each of said plurality of thread processors controls a corresponding one of said plurality of threads to generate at most one child thread and to be terminated after its parent thread, which generated said corresponding one of said plurality of threads, is terminated.

1 more element

a plurality of thread processors for executing said plurality of threads, each of said plurality of thread processors generating one child thread invariably when it detects said thread generation instruction;
and
thread managers distributed to correspond to a respective one of said plurality of thread processors, for managing statuses of a corresponding one of said plurality of thread processors and for generating an error signal when one of said plurality of thread processors tries to generate at least two child threads due to plural thread generation instructions within one thread execution,
wherein each of said plurality of thread processors controls a corresponding one of said plurality of threads to generate at most one thread and to be terminated after its parent thread, which generated said corresponding one of said plurality of threads, is terminated.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 08/888,590Filed 30 Jun 1997
Priority: JP 8-18353312 Jul 1996
Granted: 14 May 2002
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

G06F 9/4843
Task transfer initiation or dispatching: by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
G06F 8/45
Compilation: exploiting coarse grain parallelism in compilation, i.e. parallelism between groups of instructions
G06F 9/30087
To perform miscellaneous control operations, e.g. NOP: synchronisation or serialisation instructions
G06F 9/3009
To perform miscellaneous control operations, e.g. NOP: thread control instructions