Off-chip memory shared by multiple processing nodes

Abstract

An apparatus and method for efficiently managing performance among multiple integrated circuits in separate semiconductor chips. In various implementations, a computing system includes at least a first processing node and a second processing node. While processing tasks, the first processing node accesses a first memory and the second processing node accesses a second memory. A first communication channel transfers data between the first and second processing nodes. The first processing node accesses the second memory using a second communication channel different from the first communication channel and supports point-to-point communication. The second memory services access requests from the first and second processing nodes as the access requests are received while foregoing access conflict detection. The first processing node accesses the second memory after a particular amount of time has elapsed after reception of an indication from the second processing node specifying that a particular task has begun.