International Business Machines Corporation

Takashi Matsumoto

Takeo Nakada

Munehiro Fukuda

Nobuyuki Ooba

In a tightly coupled multiprocessor system, I/O interrupts are distributed to respective processors in accordance with load conditions of the processors without partiality to any one processor. Interrupt arbitration circuits provided in respective processors receive an interrupt request from an I/O device, effect interrupt arbitration using a parameter indicating the load condition of each processor as a first interrupt priority. If the arbitration fails to determine a sole processor, additional arbitration finally selects a sole processor P on the basis of the second interrupt priority which is varied circularly.

Multiprocessor system and interrupt arbiter thereof

A synchronization controller is provided for each processor in a multiprocessor system. The synchronization controllers are commonly connected to a synchronization signal bus. Each of the synchronization controllers has a synchronization wait signal transmitting means for receiving a synchronization request signal from a corresponding processor, signal means for transmitting a synchronization wait signal to the synchronization signal bus, a synchronization register for specifying the other processors to be synchronized with the corresponding processor, a comparator means for comparing the signal from the synchronization signal bus with the content of the synchronization resister, and a means for transmitting to the corresponding processor a synchronization-acknowledge signal based on the result of comparison by the comparator means.

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Sagamihara, Japan

Munehiro Fukuda