Electrical computers and digital processing systems: processing – Processing control – Branching
Reexamination Certificate
2005-02-15
2005-02-15
Treat, William M. (Department: 2183)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: processing
Processing control
Branching
C712S228000, C710S260000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06857064
ABSTRACT:
In a multithreaded processor, events are categorized according to which of a “soft” state clearing (“nuke”) process and a “hard” nuke process should be performed in response to each event. When an event is detected for a thread, either the soft nuke or hard nuke process is executed, according to the type of event, prior to invoking an event handler. The soft nuke process performs less than all of the actions performed by the hard nuke process and requires much less time to execute. If multiple threads are being processed, the hard nuke process requires synchronization between the threads and clears state for each thread, whereas the soft nuke process does not require cross-thread synchronization and clears state only for the thread in which the event was detected. In one embodiment, the soft nuke process is implemented in microcode, while the hard nuke process is hardware-implemented.
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Rodgers S. Dion
Smith Lawrence O.
Blakely , Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Treat William M.
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