Throttling Software Process Communication via Ready-State Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In network systems, slave processors often become overwhelmed with data communications from the master processor, leading to data loss and increased network congestion due to the need for acknowledgment messages and potential synchronization issues, resulting in inefficient data transfer.
Innovation Solution
A throttling algorithm is implemented in the master processor to determine if slave processors are busy, delaying or throttling data transmission to busy destinations until they are available, thereby reducing network traffic and data loss by sending data only when destinations are not overwhelmed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the master processor sends data to slave processors at high speed, then data transfer efficiency is improved, but the slave processor becomes overwhelmed and drops data
Solution Approach 1:
The master processor performs preliminary actions by checking whether the slave processor is ready to receive data before actually transmitting. The system determines the ready state of the slave processor in advance and only transmits when the slave is ready, preventing data overflow and drop while maintaining efficient transfer.
2Reliability
If the slave processor sends acknowledgment messages back to the master processor, then data reception status is confirmed, but network traffic increases and congestion worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the unnecessary acknowledgment message mechanism from the communication protocol. Instead of having the slave processor send back acknowledgment messages, the system uses a unidirectional transmission approach where the master processor simply stops transmitting when the slave is not ready, thereby confirming receipt without additional traffic.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a simplified feedback mechanism where the master processor monitors the slave processor's ready state and adjusts transmission accordingly. This feedback loop operates at the transmitter side rather than requiring explicit acknowledgment messages from the receiver, reducing network traffic while maintaining reliability.
3Reliability
If the slave processor asks the master processor to stop sending data, then data loss is prevented, but system traffic increases
Solution Approach 1:
The master processor performs preliminary checking of the slave processor's ready state before transmission. By determining in advance whether the slave is ready to receive data, the system prevents data loss without requiring the slave to send stop requests, thereby avoiding additional system traffic.
4Productivity
If continuous data transmission occurs between master and slave processors, then productivity is maintained, but synchronization issues and inconsistent states occur
Solution Approach 1:
The master processor performs preliminary determination of the slave processor's ready state before each transmission. This preliminary check ensures that data is only sent when the slave is ready, maintaining synchronization and preventing inconsistent states while allowing continuous productive operation when conditions permit.
Data Source
AI summary
A throttling process for throttling communications between software processes, where data streams are sent between a source and one or more destinations. The method first determines if any of the destinations are busy. If one or more of the destinations are busy, the process performs a throttling action before sending the data stream to the busy destinations.