Expressing parallel execution relationships in a sequential programming language

Abstract

Circuits, methods, and apparatus that provide parallel execution relationships to be included in a function call or other appropriate portion of a command or instruction in a sequential programming language. One example provides a token-based method of expressing parallel execution relationships. Each process that can be executed in parallel is given a separate token. Later processes that depend on earlier processes wait to receive the appropriate token before being executed. In another example, counters are used in place to tokens to determine when a process is completed. Each function is a number of individual functions or threads, where each thread performs the same operation on a different piece of data. A counter is used to track the number of threads that have been executed. When each thread in the function has been executed, a later function that relies on data generated by the earlier function may be executed.