Checkpointing Circuitry Background Saving Context State
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data processing systems face performance degradation due to the need to interrupt software processes for checkpointing, which is necessary for fault tolerance but occurs at the expense of processing performance, especially for fine-grained checkpointing.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating checkpointing circuitry that performs background saving of context state checkpoints, allowing software processes to continue execution without interruption, using hardware-managed or separate processor-managed mechanisms to trigger checkpointing operations without explicit software intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional checkpointing is performed by interrupting software processes to save context state, then fault tolerance is improved, but processing performance deteriorates due to execution interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements stop-free checkpointing where software processes continue to execute without interruption while their context state is being saved. The checkpointing circuitry captures context state in the background during normal process execution, eliminating the need to pause or suspend processes for checkpointing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces checkpointing circuitry as a separate hardware intermediary component that mediates between the processors executing software processes and the memory system. This dedicated circuitry handles the checkpointing operations independently, allowing process execution to continue uninterrupted while context state is captured and stored.
2Reliability
If fine-grained checkpointing is implemented to improve fault tolerance granularity, then reliability is improved, but the performance cost increases due to more frequent interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables fine-grained checkpointing by capturing context state continuously in the background without interrupting process execution. The checkpointing circuitry can capture context state at fine time granularities while processes continue to execute, eliminating the performance penalty that would otherwise result from frequent interruptions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the software-based checkpointing mechanism (which requires process interruption and software routine execution) with hardware-based checkpointing circuitry. This hardware mechanism can capture context state more efficiently and frequently without the overhead of software intervention, enabling fine-grained checkpointing with minimal performance impact.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus comprises at least one processor to execute software processes, a memory system to store data for access by the at least one processor, and checkpointing circuitry to trigger saving, to the memory system, of checkpoints of context state associated with at least one software process executed by the at least one processor. The saving of checkpoints is a background process performed by the checkpointing circuitry in the background of execution of the software processes by the at least one processor.