Microthreads are functions that may run in
parallel
Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to:
Computing
* Parallel algorithm
* Parallel computing
* Parallel metaheuristic
* Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel
* Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of IBM ...
to gain increased performance in
microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...
s. They provide an execution model that uses a few additional
instructions
Instruction or instructions may refer to:
Computing
* Instruction, one operation of a processor within a computer architecture instruction set
* Computer program, a collection of instructions
Music
* Instruction (band), a 2002 rock band from Ne ...
in a conventional processor to break code down into fragments that execute simultaneously. Dependencies are managed by making
registers in the microprocessors executing the code synchronising, so one microthread will wait for another to produce data.
This is a form of
dataflow
In computing, dataflow is a broad concept, which has various meanings depending on the application and context. In the context of software architecture, data flow relates to stream processing or reactive programming.
Software architecture
Dataf ...
. This model can be applied to an existing
instruction set architecture
In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA), also called computer architecture, is an abstract model of a computer. A device that executes instructions described by that ISA, such as a central processing unit (CPU), is called an ' ...
incrementally by providing just five new instructions to implement concurrency controls. A ''set'' of microthreads is a static partition of a basic block into
concurrently executing fragments, which execute on a single processor and share a microcontext. An ''iterator'' over a set provides a dynamic and
parametric family
In mathematics and its applications, a parametric family or a parameterized family is a indexed family, family of objects (a set of related objects) whose differences depend only on the chosen values for a set of parameters.
Common examples are p ...
of microthreads. Iterators capture loop concurrency and can be scheduled to different processors. An iterator over a set is created dynamically and is called a family of microthreads. This is the mechanism that allows the model to generate concurrency, which can be run on multiple processors or functional units.
See also
*
Continuation
In computer science, a continuation is an abstract representation of the control state of a computer program. A continuation implements ( reifies) the program control state, i.e. the continuation is a data structure that represents the computati ...
*
Coroutine
Coroutines are computer program components that generalize subroutines for non-preemptive multitasking, by allowing execution to be suspended and resumed. Coroutines are well-suited for implementing familiar program components such as cooperative ...
*
Fiber (computer science)
In computer science, a fiber is a particularly lightweight thread of execution.
Like threads, fibers share address space. However, fibers use cooperative multitasking while threads use preemptive multitasking. Threads often depend on the kern ...
*
Micro-thread (multi-core) Micro-threads for multi-core and many-cores processors is a mechanism to hide memory latency similar to multi-threading architectures. However, it is done in software for multi-core processors such as the Cell Broadband Engine to dynamically hide la ...
*
Protothread A protothread is a low-overhead mechanism for concurrent programming.
Protothreads function as Call stack, stackless, lightweight Thread (computer science), threads, or coroutines, providing a blocking context cheaply using minimal memory per proto ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
CSA website
Threads (computing)