Real time paged computing device and method of operation
AssigneeNokia Corporation
InventorsAndrew Thoelke, Dennis May
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A component of a computing device, such as the kernel of an operating system, is arranged to identify real time processes running on the device and transparently lock the memory owned by such processes to avoid them being paged out. The kernel is also able to inspect all inter-process communications originated by the real time threads running in such processes, in order to ascertain what other processes they invoke, and, if they have the potential to block a real time operation, the kernel is arranged to lock the areas of memory these processes reference. This procedure operates recursively, and ensures that page faults which might affect the operation of any real time process do not occur.
Claims22
A method of providing real time performance with memory paging in a computing device, the method comprising enabling a component to
- a. identify processes including a thread of execution requiring real time performance;
- b. identify processes including the thread of execution requiring real time performance and invoked by a thread of execution which has been identified previously as requiring real time performance;
- c. identify processes which own memory referenced by a thread of execution identified as requiring real time performance;
- d. lock the memory belonging to all processes so identified for preventing the said memory from being paged out;
- e. identify any process whose threads of execution no longer require real time performance;
- and
- f. unlock memory no longer referenced by a thread of execution requiring real time performance.
A computing device comprising a component that is enabled to
- a. identify processes including a thread of execution requiring real time performance;
- b. identify processes including the thread of execution requiring real time performance and invoked by a thread of execution which has been identified previously as requiring real time performance;
- c. identify processes which own memory referenced by a thread of execution identified as requiring real time performance;
- d. lock the memory belonging to all processes so identified for preventing the said memory from being paged out;
- e. identify any process whose threads of execution no longer require real time performance;
- and
- f. unlock memory no longer referenced by a thread of execution requiring real time performance,
- thereby to provide real time performance with memory paging in the computing device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.