Advanced Micro Devices Corporation

David Mason Kaplowitz

Terry Lynn Cole

Charles Ray Boswell, Jr

A mechanism for minimizing interrupt context execution in a computer system by providing means for a driver to select the context for its execution. The operating system determines the system processing load and stores this information for use by the driver software. Based on the system processing load information, each driver then selects an execution context which meets its particular service requirements. When the system processing load is low and a lower-priority context will provide adequate service to the application, the lower-priority context is selected in order to reduce the amount of interrupt context execution. When the system processing load is high and a lower-priority context may not provide adequate service to the application, a higher-priority context is selected in order to ensure that execution of the application is within the driver's latency requirements.

Means used to allow driver software to select most appropriate execution context dynamically

A modem to select a data transfer protocol based at least in part on conditions of the computing environment in which the modem is implemented. The modem includes means for monitoring the system processing load and selecting modem technologies and bit rates which are appropriate for current and anticipated system loading. The modem can determine system loading from measurements of microprocessor utilization in various execution contexts and can select a technology and bit rate which meets modem data transfer requirements while minimizing utilization during peak system loading.

Software based modems that interact with the computing enviroment

An improved modem is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, the improved modem detects a loss of host synchronism, indicated by an under flow event such as a lack of, or impending lack of data from the host. Normally, the under flow event would result in a lack of data to be sent to a receiving modem, causing a communication link between the two modems to be broken. The improved modem notifies the host of the under flow event and supplies alternate data to the data encoding unit of the modem in order to keep the communication link established. The alternate data supplied is typically an instruction or other action that requires no data from the host and keeps the communication link active. When the host regains synchronism, the host sends data to the modem and normal processing continues.

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Austin, TX, United States of America

David Mason Kaplowitz