Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Yi Xiao

Douglas Christopher Burger

Andrew Richard Putnam

Sitaram V Lanka

Stephen Francis Heil

Michael David Haselman

Eric S Chung

Adrian Michael Caulfield

Stephen F Heil

Aspects extend to methods, systems, and computer program products for allocating acceleration component functionality for supporting services. A service manager uses a finite number of acceleration components to accelerate services. Acceleration components can be allocated in a manner that balances load in a hardware acceleration plane, minimizes role switching, and adapts to demand changes. When role switching is appropriate, less extensive mechanisms (e.g., based on configuration data versus image files) can be used to switch roles to the extent possible.

Allocating acceleration component functionality for supporting services

Aspects extend to methods, systems, and computer program products for changing between different roles at acceleration components. Changing roles at an acceleration component can be facilitated without loading an image file to configure or partially reconfigure the acceleration component. At configuration time, an acceleration component can be configured with a framework and a plurality of selectable roles. The framework also provides a mechanism for loading different selectable roles for execution at the acceleration component (e.g., the framework can include a superset of instructions for providing any of a plurality of different roles). The framework can receive requests for specified roles from other components and switch to a subset of instructions for the specified roles. Switching between subsets of instructions at an acceleration component is a lower overhead operation relative to reconfiguring or partially reconfiguring an acceleration component by loading an image file.

Changing between different roles at acceleration components

Aspects extend to methods, systems, and computer program products for locally restoring functionality at acceleration components. A role can be locally restored at an acceleration component when an error is self-detected at the acceleration component (e.g., by local monitoring logic). Locally restoring a role can include resetting internal state (application logic) of the acceleration component providing the role. Self-detection of errors and local restoration of a role is less resource intensive and more efficient than using external components (e.g., high-level services) to restore functionality at an acceleration component and/or to reset an entire graph. Monitoring logic at multiple acceleration components can locally reset roles in parallel to restore legitimate behavior of a graph.

Locally restoring functionality at acceleration components

Aspects extend to methods, systems, and computer program products for reassigning service functionality between acceleration components. Reassigning service functionality can be used to recover service acceleration for a service. Service acceleration can operate improperly due to performance degradation at an acceleration component. A role at the acceleration component having degraded performance can be assigned to another acceleration component to restore service acceleration for the service.

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