Title:
Experiments with Configurable Locks for Multiprocessors
Experiments with Configurable Locks for Multiprocessors
Author(s)
Mukherjee, Bodhisattwa
Schwan, Karsten
Schwan, Karsten
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Abstract
Operating system kernels typically offer a fixed set of mechanisms and
primitives. However, recent research shows that the attainment of high
performance for a variety of parallel applications may require the
availability of variants of existing primitives or additional low-level
mechanisms. One approach to solve this problem is to offer a lightweight,
reconfigurable and extensible operating system kernel. An application
may configure it to suit its needs, including the selection of
appropriate low-level policies, the construction of new primitives on
top of the existing ones or the extension with additional primitives.
In this paper, we investigate kernel configurability and extensibility
for a specific class of operating system primitives: those used for task
or thread synchronization. We present an implementation of multiprocessor
locks that can be reconfigured statically and dynamically. In addition,
we develop a representation for the lock abstraction and an associated
reconfiguration mechanism that may be used for the development of other
configurable and extensible operating system abstractions.
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Date Issued
1993
Extent
256516 bytes
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Technical Report