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Hardware support for inter-process communication and processor sharing

Published: 17 January 1976 Publication History

Abstract

The abstraction of a computer system as a set of asynchronous communicating processes is an important system concept. This paper indicates how the concept could be supported at a low hardware level. A new inter-process communication mechanism called a mailbox is introduced. Examples of its use as a programming tool are given. This is followed by a description of hardware features that use this mechanism as the basis of communication between the components of a complete system. These features include processor-sharing hardware capable of handling process selection and switching with high efficiency. It is also indicated how these features can take the place of conventional input/output structures.

References

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Horning, J.J. and Randell, B. (1973), Process Structuring, Computing Surveys, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 5-30.
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Wulf, W., Cohen, E., Corwin, W., Jones, A., Levin, R., Pierson, C., and Pollack, F. (1974), HYDRA: The Kernel of a Multiprocessor Operating System, Comm. ACM, Vol. 17, No. 6, pp. 337-345.
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Liskov, B.H. (1972), The Design of the Venus Operating System, Comm. ACM, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 144-149.
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Dijkstra, E.W. (1968), Cooperating Sequential Processes, in Programming Languages, F. Genuys (ed.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 43-112.
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Cited By

View all
  • (2009)Communication/synchronisation mechanism for multiprocessor on Chip architectures2009 IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications10.1109/ISCC.2009.5202412(62-66)Online publication date: Jul-2009
  • (1988)A cache-based message passing scheme for a shared-bus multiprocessorProceedings of the 15th Annual International Symposium on Computer architecture10.5555/52400.52440(358-364)Online publication date: 1-Jun-1988
  • (1988)A cache-based message passing scheme for a shared-bus multiprocessorACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News10.1145/633625.5244016:2(358-364)Online publication date: 17-May-1988
  • Show More Cited By

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News
ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News  Volume 4, Issue 4
January 1976
210 pages
ISSN:0163-5964
DOI:10.1145/633617
Issue’s Table of Contents

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 17 January 1976
Published in SIGARCH Volume 4, Issue 4

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Cited By

View all
  • (2009)Communication/synchronisation mechanism for multiprocessor on Chip architectures2009 IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications10.1109/ISCC.2009.5202412(62-66)Online publication date: Jul-2009
  • (1988)A cache-based message passing scheme for a shared-bus multiprocessorProceedings of the 15th Annual International Symposium on Computer architecture10.5555/52400.52440(358-364)Online publication date: 1-Jun-1988
  • (1988)A cache-based message passing scheme for a shared-bus multiprocessorACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News10.1145/633625.5244016:2(358-364)Online publication date: 17-May-1988
  • (1978)Hardware support for concurrent programming in loosely coupled multiprocessorsProceedings of the 5th annual symposium on Computer architecture10.1145/800094.803048(195-201)Online publication date: 3-Apr-1978

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