The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 27, 2004
Filed:
Aug. 08, 1995
Jeffrey V. Merkey, Orem, UT (US);
Novell, Inc., Provo, UT (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for scheduling threads on a multiprocessor utilize an unlocked local queue for each processor in the multiprocessor and a lockable global dispatch queue accessible by all processors. Threads are selected for movement from the unlocked local queue to the global dispatch queue only when the unlocked local queue contains too many threads that are waiting for a processor. Threads are selected to run on an available processor only after repeated checks to make certain no threads in the processor's unlocked local queue should be run first. As a result, threads assigned to a processor tend to stay with that processor unless the system load is severely unbalanced, thereby improving system performance by increasing cache hits and decreasing lock assertions.