Patents Examined by Abu Z Ghaffari
  • Patent number: 8336046
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses enable creation of a virtual machine (VM) clone initiated through application or service logic. The application requests generation of a VM clone from within the runtime execution of the application. The request is serviced by a VM generator, which identifies a state of the VM to clone and identifies hardware resources on which to create the VM clone. Based on a determination of what resources on which to generate the VM clone, the VM generator creates the VM clone on the determined resources, having the identified state. In one embodiment, a use case of resource copy or reference copy is selected for each resource. In one embodiment, the VM generator considers a number of factors in determining where to instantiate the VM clone. The parameters may include hints or preference parameters sent by the application and/or resource loading or performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Mic Bowman, Rob Knauerhase, Paul Brett, Robert Adams
  • Patent number: 8336055
    Abstract: A method for determining status of system resources in a computer system includes loading a first operating system into a first memory, wherein the first operating system discovers system resources and reserves a number of the system resources for use of an augmenting operating system, loading the augmenting operating system into a second memory reserved for the augmenting operating system by the first operating system, accessing the first memory from the augmenting operating system and obtaining data, running a process on the augmenting operating system to perform a computation using the data obtained from the first memory, and outputting the results of the computation using the system resources reserved for the augmenting operating system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Michel Henri Théodore Hack, Stephen John Heisig, Joshua Wilson Knight, III, Gong Su
  • Patent number: 8332860
    Abstract: A dynamic approach for managing capacity in a storage environments accounting for various resource types, tiers, access paths, relationships among different storage environment components, as well as managing capacity in terms of resource planning and consumption is provided. Resource planning and consumption processes are used to allocate and reserve resources of different types and different tiers to each access path in the network. Capacity information for different resources types and tiers is automatically aggregated from different network components at different stages of a resource management cycle. The aggregated information may be used to estimate future resource needs or determine deviations between projected and actual status from which adjustments may be made to better predict future capacity needs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
    Inventors: Raphael Yahalom, Assaf Levy
  • Patent number: 8312461
    Abstract: A system includes a virtualized I/O device coupled to one or more processing units. The virtualized I/O device includes a storage for storing a resource discovery table, and programmed I/O (PIO) configuration registers corresponding to hardware resources. A system processor may allocate the plurality of hardware resources to one or more functions, and to populate each entry of the resource discovery table for each function. The processing units may execute one or more processes. Given processing units may further execute OS instructions to allocate space for an I/O mapping of a PIO configuration space in a system memory, and to assign a function to a respective process. Processing units may execute a device driver instance associated with a given process to discover allocated resources by requesting access to the resource discovery table. The virtualized I/O device protects the resources by checking access requests against the resource discovery table.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Oracle America, Inc.
    Inventor: John E. Watkins
  • Patent number: 8312464
    Abstract: Mechanisms are provided for providing hardware based dynamic load balancing of message passing interface (MPI) tasks by modifying tasks. Mechanisms for adjusting the balance of processing workloads of the processors executing tasks of an MPI job are provided so as to minimize wait periods for waiting for all of the processors to call a synchronization operation. Each processor has an associated hardware implemented MPI load balancing controller. The MPI load balancing controller maintains a history that provides a profile of the tasks with regard to their calls to synchronization operations. From this information, it can be determined which processors should have their processing loads lightened and which processors are able to handle additional processing loads without significantly negatively affecting the overall operation of the parallel execution system. Thus, operations may be performed to shift workloads from the slowest processor to one or more of the faster processors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lakshminarayana B. Arimilli, Ravi K. Arimilli, Ramakrishnan Rajamony, William E. Speight
  • Patent number: 8302095
    Abstract: The present invention allows for storing new document data immediately after the details of processing associated with a box are changed. The present invention provides a workflow processing apparatus executing processing procedures in sequence for data existing in a storage location based on setting information, where the workflow processing apparatus includes a data registration unit changing the setting information, a data acquisition unit determining whether or not data exists in the first storage location when the setting information is changed, and a box operation unit that changes the original name of the first storage location to a new name and that generates the second storage location having the original name when it is determined that the data exists in the first storage location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yuichiro Shibuya
  • Patent number: 8296761
    Abstract: A virtual machine system in which a physical CPU busy ratio can be measured in consideration of the status of an assignment of the physical CPU, and the measured CPU busy ratio can be reflected to a CPU busy ratio of each guest OS. An elapsed time counter is provided in a hypervisor, and a hypervisor access interface is provided in each of LPARs and used to read the elapsed time counter from the guest OS. A performance monitor program running on each guest OS calculates, based on a value of the elapsed time counter, the number of sampling timings expected to occur during the time when the physical CPU is not assigned to the LPAR in which the performance monitor program is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Ueno, Tomohide Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 8286163
    Abstract: The management computer creates a connection between a virtual computer and a logical volume of a storage apparatus based on the application management information that stores a connection relationship between an application program and an I/O adapter, before a server computer provided with a hypervisor that logically divides the computer resources that include a CPU, a memory, and an I/O adapter and that operates them as an independent virtual computer starts an application program that has been stored into the storage apparatus on the virtual computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Daisuke Shinohara, Norifumi Nishikawa
  • Patent number: 8281312
    Abstract: A system and method for enabling automated task preemption, including a plurality of multifunctional devices having a plurality of functional capabilities; and a processing module configured to: (i) separate the tasks requiring the plurality of functional capabilities into the tasks requiring a first category of capabilities and the tasks requiring a second category of capabilities, where the tasks requiring the first category of capabilities has a higher processing priority than the tasks requiring the second category of capabilities; and (ii) selectively process the tasks requiring the first category of capabilities before the tasks requiring the second category of capabilities regardless of arrival times of the tasks requiring the plurality of capabilities; wherein the tasks requiring the second category of capabilities that are preempted by the tasks requiring the first category of capabilities are rescheduled to be completed within a predetermined time period of completion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Shanmuga-nathan Gnanasambandam, Wendell Lewis Kibler, Naveen Sharma
  • Patent number: 8281303
    Abstract: Systems and methods for efficient dynamic allocation of virtual machine resources are described herein. At least some illustrative embodiments include a method including executing virtual machine software on a real computer system (the virtual machine software including a hypervisor and a virtual machine including a plurality of virtual devices), associating each of the plurality of virtual devices with a unique subset of a real device within the real computer system, the hypervisor sending to virtual firmware within the virtual machine a request to eject that requires ejecting from the virtual machine one or more of the plurality of virtual devices, a virtual device resource object within the virtual firmware forwarding the request to eject to a virtual device resource driver executing on the virtual machine, and the virtual device resource driver causing individual ejections of each of the one or more virtual devices in response to the forwarded request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Toshimitsu Kani
  • Patent number: 8276152
    Abstract: A change order to be executed at a scheduled time as part of a change plan is created, wherein the change order to define a change to an Information Technology (IT) environment. The change order is validated against validation rules to simulate execution of the change order at the scheduled time wherein other change orders scheduled to execute before the execution of the change order are included in the simulation. Breaks in change orders scheduled to execute after the change order are detected. Side effects caused by execution of the change order are determined. The results of validating the change order are output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Ashvinkumar J. Sanghvi, Kristoffer S. Schultz
  • Patent number: 8276153
    Abstract: A method, system and computer program capable of executing a transaction in a scalable manner by dividing and then executing the transaction in a distributed environment. In an embodiment of the invention, a system divides and then executes a transaction in a distributed environment. The system includes means which divides the transaction processing into an optimistic process which unlikely causes conflicts and a pessimistic process which likely causes conflicts; a first server; and a second server. The first server includes a first transaction execution unit for executing the optimistic process; and a transaction log transmission unit for transmitting a result of the execution of the optimistic process to the second server. The second server includes a transaction log receiving unit for receiving the transmission log; and a second transaction execution unit for executing the pessimistic process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Horii, Hisashi Miyashita, Hideki Tai, Mikio Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 8261267
    Abstract: A mapping data generator determines a virtual page number of a virtual page where an executable code in an object file is mapped. A virtual page manager manages a virtual page record containing the virtual page number, a first object ID corresponding to the virtual page number, and a detection flag indicative of existence of another virtual page record containing a second object ID identical with the first object ID. A machine page manager manages a machine page record containing the first object ID, and a machine page number to which the virtual page number is mapped. A sharable page detector determines whether a detection flag indicates existence of another virtual page record containing the first object ID and determines whether a machine page number has been set. A page mapper maps a set machine page number to the virtual page number of the access page.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Noboru Iwamatsu, Naoki Nishiguchi
  • Patent number: 8255913
    Abstract: In a global shared memory (GSM) environment, a method provides local notification of completion of a global shared memory (GSM) operation processed by a first task executing at a local node of the distributed system. The system includes multiple nodes on which different tasks of a single job execute and perform GSM operations that are received from a second task via a via host fabric interface (HFI) and associated HFR window assigned to the first tasks. The local task initiates execution of a GSM operation on the local node. The task then monitors for and detects a completion of the execution of the GSM operation on the local node. When the task detects completion of the execution of the GSM operation, the task issues an internal notification to inform the locally-executing tasks of the completion of the GSM operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lakshminarayana B. Arimilli, Robert S. Blackmore, Gheorghe C. Cascaval, Ramakrishnan Rajamony
  • Patent number: 8245231
    Abstract: A driver is provided to manage launching of tasks at different levels of priority and within the parameters of the firmware interface. The driver includes two anchors for managing the tasks, a dispatcher and an agent. The dispatcher operates at a medium priority level and manages communication from a remote administrator. The agent functions to receive communications from the dispatcher by way of a shared data structure and to launch lower priority level tasks in respond to the communication. The shared data structure stores communications received from the dispatcher. Upon placing the communication in the shared data structure, the dispatcher sends a signal to the agent indicating that a communication is in the data structure for reading by the agent. Following reading of the communication in the data structure, the agent launches the lower priority level task and sends a signal to the data structure indicating the status of the task.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Fred A. Bower, III
  • Patent number: 8230434
    Abstract: An entitlement management system for distributing spare CPU processor resources to a plurality of deployment groups operating in a data processing system, the system comprising: a deployment group entitlement component comprising: an allocation component for allocating a plurality of micro-partitions to a deployment group; a determining component for identifying spare CPU processor cycles from a donor micro-partition and distributing the identified spare CPU processor cycles to a requester micro-partition in the deployment group; the determining component further comprises identifying when there are no further spare CPU processor cycles to be donated to any of the micro-partitions in the deployment group and communicating a request to a management entitlement component; and a management entitlement component receiving requests from at least two deployment group entitlement components and identifying if one of the deployment groups has spare CPU processor cycles to donate to a further deployment group and on a
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: William J. Armstrong, Christopher G. Hales, Naresh Nayar
  • Patent number: 8230426
    Abstract: A distributed processing system delegates the allocation and control of computing work units to agent applications running on computing resources including multi-processor and multi-core systems. The distributed processing system includes at least one agent associated with at least one computing resource. The distributed processing system creates work units corresponding with execution phases of applications. Work units can be associated with concurrency data that specifies how applications are executed on multiple processors and/or processor cores. The agent collects information about its associated computing resources and requests work units from the server using this information and the concurrency data. An agent can monitor the performance of executing work units to better select subsequent work units. The distributed processing system may also be implemented within a single computing resource to improve processor core utilization of applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Digipede Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: John T. Powers, Robert W. Anderson, Nathan Trueblood, Daniel Ciruli
  • Patent number: 8230440
    Abstract: A utilization analyzer acquires accumulator values from multiple accumulators. Each accumulator corresponds to a particular processor thread and also corresponds to a particular processor utilization resource register (PURR). The utilization analyzer identifies, from the multiple accumulators, a combination of equal accumulators that each includes a largest accumulator value. Next, the utilization analyzer selects a subset of processor utilization resource registers from a combination of processor utilization resource registers that correspond to the combination of equal accumulators. The subset of processor utilization resource registers omits at least one processor utilization resource register from the combination of utilization resource registers. In turn, the utilization analyzer increments each of the subset of utilization resource registers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Joseph Genden, Rolf Bernhard Hilgendorf
  • Patent number: 8209693
    Abstract: Provided is a technology capable of managing the processing status of hardware blocks by a less number of registers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Hisato Matsuo
  • Patent number: 8191066
    Abstract: In response to an activation of a data processing system, a request for processing is accepted in parallel with loading a series of data (a data body) from an external storage into a main memory independent of whether the processing of individual data is requested or not, and if target data of the request for processing is not loaded into the main memory, apparent system starting time is reduced by executing processing corresponding to the request after the target data is loaded into the main memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Natsuko Sugaya, Katsushi Yako, Akiyoshi Nakamizo