JP3839259B2 - Multithread control method, multithread control apparatus, recording medium, and program - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a multi-thread control method, an apparatus, a recording medium, and a program that can improve the execution speed of a program and effectively use system resources in a system that performs parallel processing using a plurality of threads.
[0002]
In recent years, some operating system programs for systems that execute programs such as scientific and technological calculations at high speed have a parallel operation mechanism. Such an operating system increases the program execution speed by dividing the program into predetermined processes and executing the processes in parallel in threads assigned system resources. In such a system, it is required to increase the program execution speed and effectively use system resources.
[0003]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a system that executes a program such as scientific and technical calculation, threads are used for the purpose of increasing the execution speed of a program by executing the program in parallel. The system operating system (OS) program generates threads according to the application. By assigning system resources to each generated thread, the program corresponding to each thread is executed in parallel, and the execution speed of the program is increased.
[0004]
However, since it takes time to generate OS program threads, it is possible to increase the processing speed in the system by reusing the generated threads without deleting them.
[0005]
More specifically, the thread that has finished executing the program is registered in the table as a waiting thread without being terminated. If there is a thread generation request, the program is executed using the standby thread registered in the table. This shortens / reduces the thread generation time.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional multi-thread control method, the number of generated threads is managed as standby threads, and there are many unnecessary standby threads in the system even when the number of actually operating threads is small.
[0007]
System resources are also allocated to the waiting thread. That is, the waiting thread uses the memory even during the waiting. As described above, the standby thread may use the memory resource unnecessarily.
[0008]
For example, if 200 threads operate in parallel at a certain time and then only two threads operate thereafter, 198 waiting threads will use memory. In a system with a small amount of system resources, such a situation is not preferable for system operation and greatly affects the execution speed of other programs.
[0009]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a multi-thread control method capable of increasing the program execution speed and effectively utilizing system resources, an apparatus therefor, a recording medium, and To provide a program.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention monitors the number of running threads performing parallel processing and the number of waiting threads in a waiting state at a predetermined time, and determines the number of the running threads monitored. Accordingly, an unnecessary number of waiting threads is determined every predetermined time, and the determined unnecessary number of waiting threads are collected every predetermined time . As a result, a standby thread that uses memory resources in vain is terminated, and system resources are effectively used.
[0011]
Further, at any given time, any one of the number of waiting threads, the maximum value and the average value of the number of executing threads within the predetermined time, and a value obtained by multiplying the number of executing threads by a predetermined coefficient The number of waiting threads is compared with the necessary number, and when the number of waiting threads is larger than the necessary number, the waiting threads are collected up to the necessary number. As a result, the number of waiting threads is reduced to the required number according to the operating status, and the system resources can be effectively used.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a multi-thread control device according to an embodiment.
[0013]
The multi-thread control device 1 is provided in a system (computer) that executes an application program, requests an operating system (OS) 2 to generate a thread, and uses a thread received from the OS 2 to execute a parallel program of the partial program (for example, (DO loop and subroutine) are executed in parallel.
[0014]
The multi-thread control device 1 registers the unnecessary thread as a waiting thread after the partial program ends. Next, when there is a program execution request, the multi-thread control device 1 looks at the state of the standby thread, and if there is a standby thread, executes the partial program, and if there is no standby thread, Request thread creation.
[0015]
The multi-thread control device 1 monitors the number of threads that are executing a program and the number of waiting threads, and collects a required number or more of waiting threads based on the number of executing threads. For example, the multi-thread control device 1 executes a waiting thread collection process using the maximum number of threads being executed and the number of waiting threads.
[0016]
More specifically, the multi-thread control device 1 monitors the number of executing threads for a predetermined period, sets the maximum value (maximum number of executing threads) within that period as the necessary number of waiting threads at that time, Compare the number of waiting threads managed. When the number of waiting threads is larger than the maximum number of executing threads, the multi-thread control device 1 collects waiting threads up to the maximum number of executing threads. That is, the multi-thread control device 1 ends the waiting thread until the number of waiting threads matches the maximum number of executing threads.
[0017]
In this way, collecting standby threads that use system resources in vain reduces the effect on the executing thread.
Further, the maximum number of threads being executed changes according to the state of the program being executed, that is, the operating status of the system. Therefore, by collecting the waiting threads up to the maximum number of executing threads, the number of waiting threads is dynamically changed according to the operating status of the system.
[0018]
Furthermore, by collecting the waiting threads up to the maximum number of executing threads that are monitoring the executing threads for a predetermined period, it is possible to cope with an unexpected increase in threads. That is, even if the number of threads temporarily decreases during execution, the waiting threads are kept waiting for the maximum number of executing threads, so that the program can be executed immediately without running out of waiting threads.
[0019]
On the other hand, in the method of collecting waiting threads so that the number of waiting threads becomes equal to the number of running threads, the number of waiting threads is reduced in response to a temporary decrease in the number of running threads. When a thread is required, the waiting thread is insufficient and a thread generation request must be made to the OS 2, and the execution time is increased correspondingly (the start of execution is delayed).
[0020]
Next, the configuration of the multithread control apparatus 1 will be described.
The multi-thread control device 1 includes a thread management processing unit 11, a thread collection processing unit 12, and a thread management table 13.
[0021]
The thread management processing unit 11 executes processing for requesting the OS to generate a thread and processing for requesting the thread to execute a program. The thread collection processing unit 12 monitors a waiting thread and executes a process of collecting a useless waiting thread (thread termination). The thread management table 13 is a table for managing thread information.
[0022]
FIG. 1 shows three threads 14, 15, and 16 as threads generated by the OS 2. Among these threads 14 to 16, the threads 14 and 15 are executing threads that are executing programs, and the thread 16 is an operation and table of both processing units 11 and 12 as waiting threads that end the program and are waiting. The configuration of 13 will be described.
[0023]
First, the configuration of the thread management table 13 will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of the thread management table 13.
The thread management table 13 includes an information management table 21 and a plurality of thread control tables 22 to 24 (three in FIG. 4 corresponding to the threads 14 to 16 in FIG. 1). The information management table 21 has areas for the executing thread queue 21a, the waiting thread queue 21b, the waiting thread counter 21c, the executing thread counter 21d, and the maximum executing thread counter 21e.
[0024]
The executing thread queue 21a is a thread control table address list having an area for storing an address indicating a thread control table corresponding to the executing thread queued to the executing thread queue 21a, and manages information on executing threads. The waiting thread queue 21b has an area for storing an address indicating a thread control table corresponding to the waiting thread queued in the waiting thread queue 21b, and manages information on waiting threads. Specifically, in FIG. 1, threads 14 and 15 are executing threads, and thread 16 is a waiting thread. On the other hand, addresses indicating the thread control tables 22 and 23 corresponding to the executing threads 14 and 15 are recorded in the executing thread queue 21a, and a thread control table 24 corresponding to the waiting thread 16 is stored in the waiting thread queue 21b. The address to point is recorded.
[0025]
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the thread control table 24. The configuration of the other thread control tables 22 and 23 is the same as that of the thread control table 24, and thus the drawings and description are omitted.
[0026]
The thread control table 24 has areas for thread execution ECB (Event Control Block) 24a and thread stop ECB 24b. The thread execution ECB 24a is provided for managing an execution request from the thread management processing unit 11 in FIG. 1, and the thread stop ECB 24b is provided for managing an end request from the thread collection processing unit 12 in FIG. The standby thread 16 in FIG. 1 performs program execution or stop processing based on information written in the ECBs 24a and 24b.
[0027]
More specifically, the thread management processing unit 11 in FIG. 1 stores information corresponding to the execution request in the thread execution ECB 24a of the thread control table 24 queued in the waiting thread queue 21b. When the information corresponding to the execution request is stored in the thread execution ECB 24a of the thread control table 24 corresponding to itself, the waiting thread 16 executes the program portion assigned to the thread in response thereto.
[0028]
1 stores information corresponding to the stop request in the thread stop ECB 24b of the thread control table 24 queued in the standby thread queue 21b. When information corresponding to the stop request is stored in the thread stop ECB 24b, the waiting thread 16 executes a termination process in response thereto. As a result, the system resources allocated to the waiting thread 16 are released.
[0029]
The waiting thread counter 21c records the number of waiting threads, the executing thread counter 21d records the number of executing threads, and the maximum executing thread counter 21e stores the maximum number of executing threads. To be recorded.
[0030]
When the running threads 14 and 15 in FIG. 1 terminate the program, the running thread counter 21d counts down (−1), and the waiting thread counter 21c counts up (+1). When receiving the execution request from the thread management processing unit 11, the waiting thread 16 in FIG. 1 counts down the waiting thread counter 21c, counts up the executing thread counter 21d, and the value of the counter 21d is the maximum executing thread counter 21e. If the value is larger than the value of, the value of the maximum executing thread counter 21e is updated to the value of the executing thread counter 21d. Thus, both counters 21c and 21d represent the number of waiting threads and the number of executing threads.
[0031]
Accordingly, the thread management processing unit 11 in FIG. 1 makes a thread generation request and an execution request for the thread based on the standby thread counter 21c. More specifically, when the thread management processing unit 11 receives an execution request for a parallel program, if the standby thread counter 21c is “0”, the thread management processing unit 11 requests the OS 2 to generate a thread, and executes the generated thread in the executing thread queue. Queue to 21a and request the thread to execute the program. On the other hand, when the counter 21c is “1” or more, the thread management processing unit 11 requests the standby thread 16 queued in the standby thread queue 21b to execute the program.
[0032]
Further, the thread collection processing unit 12 in FIG. 1 collects excess threads based on the values of the waiting thread counter 21c and the maximum executing thread counter 21e. More specifically, the thread collection processing unit 12 monitors the maximum executing thread counter 21e and the waiting thread counter 21c at predetermined intervals and compares them. Based on the comparison result, the thread collection processing unit 12 collects the waiting thread up to the value of the maximum executing thread counter 21e when the value of the waiting thread counter 21c is larger than the value of the maximum executing thread counter 21e. To do. That is, the thread collection processing unit 12 makes an end request to the number of threads corresponding to the difference between the values of the counters 21c and 21e, and collects the waiting thread.
[0033]
Next, the operations of the threads 14 to 16 and the thread collection processing unit 12 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart illustrating processing executed by a thread.
[0034]
First, in step 31, the thread increments the running thread counter 21d by one.
Next, in step 32, the thread compares the values of the executing thread counter 21d and the maximum executing thread counter 21e. If the executing thread counter 21d is larger than the maximum executing thread counter 21e, the process proceeds to step 33. In step 33, the thread updates the value of the maximum executing thread counter 21e to that of the executing thread counter 21d.
[0035]
In step 34, the thread executes the program. When the program ends, the thread moves to step 35.
In step 35, the thread decrements the executing thread counter 21d by -1. Next, in step 36, the thread increments the waiting thread counter 21c by one. In step 37, the thread queues the thread control table in the waiting thread queue 21b.
[0036]
In step 38, the thread performs multi-WAIT processing. In this process, the thread monitors both the thread execution ECB 24a and the thread stop ECB 24b, and waits until information is written to one of them. Then, when information is written in the thread execution ECB 24a or the thread stop ECB 24b, the thread proceeds to Step 39.
[0037]
In step 39, the thread determines whether or not the information written in step 38 is an end request, and if it is not an end request, that is, if it is an execution request, the process proceeds to step 40. In step 40, the thread decrements the waiting thread counter 21c by -1, and then proceeds to step 31. As a result, the thread functions as a thread for executing the program, and the standby thread is reused.
[0038]
On the other hand, if the input is a termination request in step 39, the thread moves to step 41, where the termination process is executed. As a result, the thread ends (disappears).
[0039]
FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the thread collection processing unit 12.
First, in step 51, the thread collection processing unit 12 sets a timer for a predetermined time. This predetermined time is an interval for monitoring the waiting thread counter 21c and the maximum executing thread counter 21e, and this monitoring interval may be changed according to a fixed value set according to the system, an operation time, or the like. When the predetermined time elapses and the time is up, the thread collection processing unit 12 proceeds to step 52.
[0040]
Step 52 is a comparison process (comparison means). The thread collection processing unit 12 compares the waiting thread counter 21c with the maximum executing thread counter 21e, and whether the number of waiting threads is greater than the maximum executing thread number. Check. The thread collection processing unit 12 returns to step 51 when the maximum number of executing threads is greater than the number of waiting threads, and proceeds to step 53 when the number of waiting threads is greater than the maximum number of executing threads. .
[0041]
The step 53 is collection processing (collection means), and the thread collection processing unit 12 makes an end request to the waiting thread (specifically, writes information corresponding to the end request in the thread ECB 24b of the thread control table corresponding to the waiting thread). ) Collect the thread.
[0042]
The multi-thread control device 1 can also be realized by a computer program executed on a computer.
That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a computer 60 that executes a program in parallel by multi-threads includes a processing device 61, an input / output device 62, a main storage device 63, an auxiliary storage device 64, and the like, and executes a computer program. Is. The computer program is stored and provided in a portable recording medium 65 such as a floppy disk or CD-ROM, or in a main storage device or an auxiliary storage device of another computer connected to the network.
[0043]
The provided computer program is temporarily copied or installed from the portable medium 65 to the auxiliary storage device 64 and then loaded to the main storage device 63, or directly loaded from the portable medium 65 to the main storage device 63 of the computer 60 and executed. In the main storage device 63, the thread management table 13 shown in FIG. 1 is created, and thread information is managed thereby.
[0044]
Also, when the computer program is stored and provided in another device connected to the network, it is copied to the auxiliary storage device 64 after being received from another device via the network or loaded into the main storage device 63 after installation, Alternatively, it is loaded directly into the main storage device 63 and executed.
[0045]
FIG. 2 functionally shows a computer that executes a computer program. A computer system in which a plurality of devices 61 to 64 are used or a plurality of computers are loosely or tightly coupled is shown. It may be used.
[0046]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The thread collection processing unit 12 of the multi-thread control device 1 monitors the number of executing threads for a predetermined period, and compares the maximum value (maximum number of executing threads) within that period with the number of waiting threads. When the number of waiting threads is larger than the maximum number of executing threads, the thread collection processing unit 12 collects waiting threads up to the maximum number of executing threads. As a result, it is possible to collect standby threads that use system resources in vain and reduce the effect on the running threads.
[0047]
(2) The thread collection processing unit 12 collects the waiting threads up to the value of the maximum running thread counter 21e, that is, the maximum number of running threads in a predetermined period. The maximum number of threads being executed varies depending on the state of the program being executed, that is, the operating status of the system. As a result, by collecting the waiting threads up to the maximum number of executing threads, the number of waiting threads corresponding to the operating status of the system can be waited.
[0048]
In addition, you may change the said embodiment into the following aspects.
In the above embodiment, the waiting thread is terminated based on the result of comparing the waiting thread counter 21c and the maximum executing thread counter 21e every predetermined time, but the value of the waiting thread counter 21c is set to the value of the waiting thread at that time. The number of waiting threads may be collected based on the result of comparing the number of threads with the necessary thread counter 21d. In addition, the average value of the number of executing threads in a predetermined period is obtained as the required number, the average number of threads is compared with the number of waiting threads, and the average value or the number of currently executing threads is waited based on the comparison result. The thread may be collected. Alternatively, the number of threads being executed may be a necessary number obtained by calculating a value corresponding to the system status or a constant coefficient, and the waiting threads may be collected until then.
[0049]
In the above embodiment, each of the threads 14 to 16 updates the maximum execution thread counter 21e. However, the thread management processing unit 11 or the thread collection processing unit 12 may perform the update process.
[0050]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, an unnecessary number of waiting threads are collected based on the number of running threads and the number of threads in a waiting state. As a result, it is possible to increase the program execution speed in the standby thread, to end the standby thread that uses the memory resource in vain, and to effectively use the system resources.
[0051]
In addition, since the waiting threads are collected up to the required number every predetermined time, the number of waiting threads can be reduced to the required number according to the operating status, and the system resources can be effectively used.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a multi-thread control device according to an embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a hardware configuration of the system.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a thread control table.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a thread management table.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing thread processing;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of a thread collection processing unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Thread management processing part 12 Thread collection | recovery processing part 13 Thread management table 14-16 thread as a thread information management part

Claims (5)

In a multi-thread control method for performing parallel processing by a plurality of threads,
And the number of waiting threads in number and standby state of the running thread that performs parallel processing monitor at a predetermined time, in accordance with the number of the running thread, which is the monitoring, the running within the predetermined time period Determining a required number of waiting threads, each of which is one of a maximum value and an average value of the number of threads , and a value obtained by multiplying the number of executing threads by a predetermined coefficient, for each predetermined time; compared been the required number and the number of the waiting threads for each of the predetermined time, the number of the waiting threads and recovering the waiting threads until the required number if greater than the required number Multi-thread control method. In a multi-thread control device that performs parallel processing by a plurality of threads,
A thread information management unit for storing thread information of the plurality of threads;
A thread generation request based on the number of threads in a standby state stored in the thread information management unit, and a thread execution processing unit that performs a process execution request for the thread in the standby state;
And the number of waiting threads in number and the standby state of the thread information management running is being performed the recorded parallel processing unit thread monitors at predetermined time, depending on the number of the running thread, which is the monitoring an unnecessary number of the standby thread to determine for each said predetermined time Te, the thread control, characterized in that the waiting thread the unnecessary number of the determined and a thread recovery unit for recovering every predetermined time apparatus. The thread collection processing unit
At predetermined time intervals, wherein the number of waiting threads, the number of the maximum value of the running thread within the predetermined time, the average value, and one of the values obtained by multiplying a predetermined coefficient to the number of the running thread A means of comparing the required number of ones;
3. The thread control device according to claim 2, further comprising means for collecting the waiting threads up to the required number when the number of waiting threads is larger than the required number. A computer-readable recording medium on which a multi-thread control program that performs parallel processing by a plurality of threads is recorded,
The program is
Monitoring the number of executing threads performing parallel processing and the number of waiting threads in a waiting state at a predetermined time ;
Determining an unnecessary number of waiting threads every predetermined time according to the monitored number of running threads;
The step of collecting the determined unnecessary number of the waiting threads every predetermined time . Computer
A thread information management unit for storing thread information of the plurality of threads ;
A thread generation request based on the number of threads in a standby state stored in the thread information management unit, and a thread execution processing unit that issues a process execution request to the thread in the standby state ; and
And the number of waiting threads in number and the standby state of the thread information management running is being performed the recorded parallel processing unit thread monitors at predetermined time, depending on the number of the running thread, which is the monitoring the unnecessary number of waiting threads is determined for each predetermined time, a program for functioning the waiting threads of the unnecessary number of the determined as a thread recovery unit for recovering every predetermined time Te.

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