Runtime dispatching among a heterogeneous group of processors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9280395-B2
Application number	US-201213977315-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 30, 2012
Priority date	May 30, 2012
Publication date	Mar 8, 2016
Grant date	Mar 8, 2016

Abstract

Systems, apparatus, articles, and methods are described including operations for runtime dispatching among a heterogeneous group of processors.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A computer-implemented method for runtime dispatching among a heterogeneous group of processors of a computer, comprising:
transferring, via a scheduler module, data from a memory to the heterogeneous group of processors, the data comprising a computing unit source code as well as first and second context data associated with the computing unit source code from an active application, wherein a plurality of computing units configurable for individual execution make up the active application;
determining, via the scheduler module, a distribution of the computing unit source code in the form of the computing units that make up the active application to the heterogeneous group of processors including a first processor and a second processor, wherein the second processor is of a different type than the first processor, and wherein the distribution depends, at least in part, on at least one of thermal data and power supply data of the computer;
compiling, via the scheduler module, a first binary version and a second binary version of the computing unit source code, wherein the first binary version of the computing unit source code is compatible with the first processor and the second binary version of the computing unit source code is compatible with the second processor;
providing, via the scheduler module, the first binary version of the computing unit source code and the first context data to the first processor and the second binary version of the computing unit source code and the second context data to the second processor so that the context data and source code from a single computing unit is distributed to at least both the first and second processors of different types; and
initiating, via the active application, a request for scheduling to the scheduler module, wherein the request for scheduling includes the computing unit source code as well as the first and second context data associated with the computing unit source code,
wherein, responsive to the request, the scheduler module has at least one of thermal and power supply data transferred to the scheduler module in order to determine the distribution of the active application's computing units and context data to the processors.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, to the scheduler module, load data from the heterogeneous group of processors, wherein the load data indicates available load for individual processors; and
detecting, via the scheduler module, individual processors of the heterogeneous group of processors based at least in part on the load data.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, to the scheduler module, load data from the heterogeneous group of processors, wherein the load data indicates available load for individual processors; and
wherein the determination of the distribution of the computing unit source code to the heterogeneous group of processors is based at least in part on the load data.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, to the scheduler module, thermal data associated with the computer;
determining, via the scheduler module, a thermal level based at least in part on the thermal data; and
wherein the determination of the distribution of the computing unit source code to the heterogeneous group of processors is based at least in part on the determination of the thermal level.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, to the scheduler module, power supply data associated with the computer;
determining, via the scheduler module, a current power source and/or a battery charge level based at least in part on the power supply data; and
wherein the determination of the distribution of the computing unit source code to the heterogeneous group of processors is based at least in part on the determination of the current power source and/or a battery charge level.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transferring of the first binary version of the computing unit source code and the first context data to the first processor and the second binary version of the computing unit source code and the second context data to the second processor comprises:
launching, via the scheduler module, a dispatch module associated with the scheduler module; and
determining, via the dispatch module, when one of the first processor and/or second processors become available based at least in part on load data from the heterogeneous group of processors, wherein the load data indicates available load for individual processors,
wherein the transferring of the first binary version of the computing unit source code and the first context data to the first processor and the second binary version of the computing unit source code and the second context data to the second processor is performed via the dispatch module in response to the first processor and/or second processors becoming available.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
loading, via the active application, the computing unit source code, wherein the computing unit source code comprises an individual computing unit selected from a plurality of computing units that comprise the active application; and
creating, via the active application, a thread context array based at least in part on the computing unit source code, wherein the thread context array comprises the first and second context.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, to the scheduler module, thermal data associated with the computer;
determining, via the scheduler module, a thermal level based at least in part on the thermal data;
providing, to the scheduler module, power supply data associated with the computer;
determining, via the scheduler module, a current power source and/or a battery charge level based at least in part on the power supply data;
providing, to the scheduler module, load data from the heterogeneous group of processors, wherein the load data indicates available load for individual processors; and
detecting, via the scheduler module, individual processors of the heterogeneous group of processors based at least in part on the load data;
wherein the determination of the distribution of the computing unit source code to the heterogeneous group of processors is based at least in part on one or more of the load data, the determination of the thermal level, and the determination of the current power source and/or a battery charge level.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
loading, via the active application, the computing unit source code, wherein the computing unit source code comprises an individual computing unit selected from a plurality of computing units that comprise the active application;
creating, via the active application, a thread context array based at least in part on the computing unit source code, wherein the thread context array comprises the first and second context;
providing, to the scheduler module, thermal data associated with the computer;
determining, via the scheduler module, a thermal level based at least in part on the thermal data;
providing, to the scheduler module, power supply data associated with the computer;
determining, via the scheduler module, a current power source and/or a battery charge level based at least in part on the power supply data;
providing, to the scheduler module, load data from the heterogeneous group of processors, wherein the load data indicates available load for individual processors; and
detecting, via the scheduler module, individual processors of the heterogeneous group of processors based at least in part on the load data;
wherein the determination of the distribution of the computing unit source code to the heterog

Assignees

• Jiang Yong
• Li Ruijia
• Shen Lei
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Jiang Yong
• Li Ruijia
• Shen Lei

Classifications

• G06F9/4552

  Involving translation to a different instruction set architecture, e.g. just-in-time translation in a JVM · CPC title

• G06F9/5094 Primary

  where the allocation takes into account power or heat criteria (power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206) · CPC title

• G06F8/52

  Binary to binary · CPC title

• Y02B60/142

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• G06F9/505

  considering the load · CPC title