Multithreaded communication controller for efficient DSM multiprocessors

The throughput of the communication controller has significant impact on the performance of the distributed shared memory multiprocessor system. One of approaches to increase the throughput of the communication controller is the use of the multithreaded protocol processor. This paper proposes an original technique of switching from a context to a contest, named the mixed priority technique, which meets specific conditions of the communication controller use. The idea behind the scheme proposed is to group all tasks into those of higher and lower priority, and to assign priorities within each group according to the order of arrival of tasks into the protocol processor. Its advantages over existing techniques (coarse grained and interleaved) are demonstrated on a selected example execution of four threads. Finally, an estimation of its impact on the performance of the distributed shared memory multiprocessor system given.