Patents by Inventor Alan Gara

Alan Gara has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • COLLECTIVE NETWORK FOR COMPUTER STRUCTURES
    Publication number: 20160105262
    Abstract: A system and method for enabling high-speed, low-latency global collective communications among interconnected processing nodes. The global collective network optimally enables collective reduction operations to be performed during parallel algorithm operations executing in a computer structure having a plurality of the interconnected processing nodes. Router devices are included that interconnect the nodes of the network via links to facilitate performance of low-latency global processing operations at nodes of the virtual network and class structures. The global collective network may be configured to provide global barrier and interrupt functionality in asynchronous or synchronized manner. When implemented in a massively-parallel supercomputing structure, the global collective network is physically and logically partitionable according to needs of a processing algorithm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2015
    Publication date: April 14, 2016
    Inventors: Matthias A. Blumrich, Paul W. Coteus, Dong Chen, Alan Gara, Mark E. Giampapa, Philip Heidelberger, Dirk Hoenicke, Todd E. Takken, Burkhard D. Steinmacher-Burow, Pavlos M. Vranas
  • Dynamic hard error detection
    Patent number: 9281079
    Abstract: An apparatus for detecting hard errors in a circuit includes a storage device and a processing circuit. The storage has stored therein test data and normal data. The processing circuit includes combinational logic in series with at least one set of input latches and at least one set of output latches. The apparatus includes a test control module configured to control the processing circuit to halt a flow of normal data through the processing circuit and run the test data through the processing circuit while subjecting the processing circuit to a stress condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Pradip Bose, Alan Gara, Hans M. Jacobson
  • Combined group ECC protection and subgroup parity protection
    Patent number: 9252814
    Abstract: A method and system are disclosed for providing combined error code protection and subgroup parity protection for a given group of n bits. The method comprises the steps of identifying a number, m, of redundant bits for said error protection; and constructing a matrix P, wherein multiplying said given group of n bits with P produces m redundant error correction code (ECC) protection bits, and two columns of P provide parity protection for subgroups of said given group of n bits. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the matrix P is constructed by generating permutations of m bit wide vectors with three or more, but an odd number of, elements with value one and the other elements with value zero; and assigning said vectors to rows of the matrix P.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alan Gara, Dong Chen, Philip Heidelberger, Martin Ohmacht
  • Error recovery to enable error-free message transfer between nodes of a computer network
    Patent number: 9244759
    Abstract: An error-recovery method to enable error-free message transfer between nodes of a computer network. A first node of the network sends a packet to a second node of the network over a link between the nodes, and the first node keeps a copy of the packet on a sending end of the link until the first node receives acknowledgment from the second node that the packet was received without error. The second node tests the packet to determine if the packet is error free. If the packet is not error free, the second node sets a flag to mark the packet as corrupt. The second node returns acknowledgement to the first node specifying whether the packet was received with or without error. When the packet is received with error, the link is returned to a known state and the packet is sent again to the second node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Matthias A. Blumrich, Paul W. Coteus, Dong Chen, Alan Gara, Mark E. Giampapa, Philip Heidelberger, Dirk Hoenicke, Todd Takken, Burkhard Steinmacher-Burow, Pavlos M. Vranas
  • MULTI-PETASCALE HIGHLY EFFICIENT PARALLEL SUPERCOMPUTER
    Publication number: 20160011996
    Abstract: A Multi-Petascale Highly Efficient Parallel Supercomputer of 100 petaflop-scale includes node architectures based upon System-On-a-Chip technology, where each processing node comprises a single Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). The ASIC nodes are interconnected by a five dimensional torus network that optimally maximize the throughput of packet communications between nodes and minimize latency. The network implements collective network and a global asynchronous network that provides global barrier and notification functions. Integrated in the node design include a list-based prefetcher. The memory system implements transaction memory, thread level speculation, and multiversioning cache that improves soft error rate at the same time and supports DMA functionality allowing for parallel processing message-passing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2015
    Publication date: January 14, 2016
    Inventors: Sameh Asaad, Ralph E. Bellofatto, Michael A. Blocksome, Matthias A. Blumrich, Peter Boyle, Jose R. Brunheroto, Dong Chen, Chen-Yong Cher, George L. Chiu, Norman Christ, Paul W. Coteus, Kristan D. Davis, Gabor J. Dozsa, Alexandre E. Eichenberger, Noel A. Eisley, Matthew R. Ellavsky, Kahn C. Evans, Bruce M. Fleischer, Thomas W. Fox, Alan Gara, Mark E. Giampapa, Thomas M. Gooding, Michael K. Gschwind, John A. Gunnels, Shawn A. Hall, Rudolf A. Haring, Philip Heidelberger, Todd A. Inglett, Brant L. Knudson, Gerard V. Kopcsay, Sameer Kumar, Amith R. Mamidala, James A. Marcella, Mark G. Megerian, Douglas R. Miller, Samuel J. Miller, Adam J. Muff, Michael B. Mundy, John K. O'Brien, Kathryn M. O'Brien, Martin Ohmacht, Jeffrey J. Parker, Ruth J. Poole, Joseph D. Ratterman, Valentina Salapura, David L. Satterfield, Robert M. Senger, Burkhard Steinmacher-Burow, William M. Stockdell, Craig B. Stunkel, Krishnan Sugavanam, Yutaka Sugawara, Todd E. Takken, Barry M. Trager, James L. Van Oosten, Charles D. Wait, Robert E. Walkup, Alfred T. Watson, Robert W. Wisniewski, Peng Wu
  • OPCODE COUNTING FOR PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
    Publication number: 20150347141
    Abstract: Methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed for measuring a performance of a program running on a processing unit of a processing system. In one embodiment, the method comprises informing a logic unit of each instruction in the program that is executed by the processing unit, assigning a weight to each instruction, assigning the instructions to a plurality of groups, and analyzing the plurality of groups to measure one or more metrics. In one embodiment, each instruction includes an operating code portion, and the assigning includes assigning the instructions to the groups based on the operating code portions of the instructions. In an embodiment, each type of instruction is assigned to a respective one of the plurality of groups. These groups may be combined into a plurality of sets of the groups.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2015
    Publication date: December 3, 2015
    Inventors: Alan Gara, David L. Satterfield, Robert E. Walkup
  • Opcode counting for performance measurement
    Patent number: 9106656
    Abstract: Methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed for measuring a performance of a program running on a processing unit of a processing system. In one embodiment, the method comprises informing a logic unit of each instruction in the program that is executed by the processing unit, assigning a weight to each instruction, assigning the instructions to a plurality of groups, and analyzing the plurality of groups to measure one or more metrics. In one embodiment, each instruction includes an operating code portion, and the assigning includes assigning the instructions to the groups based on the operating code portions of the instructions. In an embodiment, each type of instruction is assigned to a respective one of the plurality of groups. These groups may be combined into a plurality of sets of the groups.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Alan Gara, David L. Satterfield, Robert E. Walkup
  • Multi-petascale highly efficient parallel supercomputer
    Patent number: 9081501
    Abstract: A Multi-Petascale Highly Efficient Parallel Supercomputer of 100 petaOPS-scale computing, at decreased cost, power and footprint, and that allows for a maximum packaging density of processing nodes from an interconnect point of view. The Supercomputer exploits technological advances in VLSI that enables a computing model where many processors can be integrated into a single Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Sameh Asaad, Ralph E. Bellofatto, Michael A. Blocksome, Matthias A. Blumrich, Peter Boyle, Jose R. Brunheroto, Dong Chen, Chen-Yong Cher, George L. Chiu, Norman Christ, Paul W. Coteus, Kristan D. Davis, Gabor J. Dozsa, Alexandre E. Eichenberger, Noel A. Eisley, Matthew R. Ellavsky, Kahn C. Evans, Bruce M. Fleischer, Thomas W. Fox, Alan Gara, Mark E. Giampapa, Thomas M. Gooding, Michael K. Gschwind, John A. Gunnels, Shawn A. Hall, Rudolf A. Haring, Philip Heidelberger, Todd A. Inglett, Brant L. Knudson, Gerard V. Kopcsay, Sameer Kumar, Amith R. Mamidala, James A. Marcella, Mark G. Megerian, Douglas R. Miller, Samuel J. Miller, Adam J. Muff, Michael B. Mundy, John K. O'Brien, Kathryn M. O'Brien, Martin Ohmacht, Jeffrey J. Parker, Ruth J. Poole, Joseph D. Ratterman, Valentina Salapura, David L. Satterfield, Robert M. Senger, Brian Smith, Burkhard Steinmacher-Burow, William M. Stockdell, Craig B. Stunkel, Krishnan Sugavanam, Yutaka Sugawara, Todd E. Takken, Barry M. Trager, James L. Van Oosten, Charles D. Wait, Robert E. Walkup, Alfred T. Watson, Robert W. Wisniewski, Peng Wu
  • System-wide power management control via clock distribution network
    Patent number: 9037892
    Abstract: An apparatus, method and computer program product for automatically controlling power dissipation of a parallel computing system that includes a plurality of processors. A computing device issues a command to the parallel computing system. A clock pulse-width modulator encodes the command in a system clock signal to be distributed to the plurality of processors. The plurality of processors in the parallel computing system receive the system clock signal including the encoded command, and adjusts power dissipation according to the encoded command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Paul W. Coteus, Alan Gara, Thomas M. Gooding, Rudolf A. Haring, Gerard V. Kopcsay, Thomas A. Liebsch, Don D. Reed
  • Scheduler for multiprocessor system switch with selective pairing
    Patent number: 8930752
    Abstract: System, method and computer program product for scheduling threads in a multiprocessing system with selective pairing of processor cores for increased processing reliability. A selective pairing facility is provided that selectively connects, i.e., pairs, multiple microprocessor or processor cores to provide one highly reliable thread (or thread group). The method configures the selective pairing facility to use checking provide one highly reliable thread for high-reliability and allocate threads to corresponding processor cores indicating need for hardware checking. The method configures the selective pairing facility to provide multiple independent cores and allocate threads to corresponding processor cores indicating inherent resilience.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alan Gara, Michael Karl Gschwind, Valentina Salapura
  • EVICT ON WRITE, A MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR A PREFETCH UNIT AND/OR FIRST LEVEL CACHE IN A MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEM WITH SPECULATIVE EXECUTION
    Publication number: 20150006821
    Abstract: In a multiprocessor system with at least two levels of cache, a speculative thread may run on a core processor in parallel with other threads. When the thread seeks to do a write to main memory, this access is to be written through the first level cache to the second level cache. After the write though, the corresponding line is deleted from the first level cache and/or prefetch unit, so that any further accesses to the same location in main memory have to be retrieved from the second level cache. The second level cache keeps track of multiple versions of data, where more than one speculative thread is running in parallel, while the first level cache does not have any of the versions during speculation. A switch allows choosing between modes of operation of a speculation blind first level cache.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2014
    Publication date: January 1, 2015
    Inventors: Alan Gara, Martin Ohmacht
  • Cache directory lookup reader set encoding for partial cache line speculation support
    Patent number: 8868837
    Abstract: In a multiprocessor system, with conflict checking implemented in a directory lookup of a shared cache memory, a reader set encoding permits dynamic recordation of read accesses. The reader set encoding includes an indication of a portion of a line read, for instance by indicating boundaries of read accesses. Different encodings may apply to different types of speculative execution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alan Gara, Martin Ohmacht
  • Optimizing TLB entries for mixed page size storage in contiguous memory
    Patent number: 8856490
    Abstract: A system and method for accessing memory are provided. The system comprises a lookup buffer for storing one or more page table entries, wherein each of the one or more page table entries comprises at least a virtual page number and a physical page number; a logic circuit for receiving a virtual address from said processor, said logic circuit for matching the virtual address to the virtual page number in one of the page table entries to select the physical page number in the same page table entry, said page table entry having one or more bits set to exclude a memory range from a page.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Dong Chen, Alan Gara, Mark E. Giampapa, Philip Heidelberger, Jon K. Kriegel, Martin Ohmacht, Burkhard Steinmacher-Burow
  • Evict on write, a management strategy for a prefetch unit and/or first level cache in a multiprocessor system with speculative execution
    Patent number: 8838906
    Abstract: In a multiprocessor system with at least two levels of cache, a speculative thread may run on a core processor in parallel with other threads. When the thread seeks to do a write to main memory, this access is to be written through the first level cache to the second level cache. After the write though, the corresponding line is deleted from the first level cache and/or prefetch unit, so that any further accesses to the same location in main memory have to be retrieved from the second level cache. The second level cache keeps track of multiple versions of data, where more than one speculative thread is running in parallel, while the first level cache does not have any of the versions during speculation. A switch allows choosing between modes of operation of a speculation blind first level cache.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alan Gara, Martin Ohmacht
  • EMBEDDING GLOBAL BARRIER AND COLLECTIVE IN A TORUS NETWORK
    Publication number: 20140237045
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system and computer program product for embedding a global barrier and global interrupt network in a parallel computer system organized as a torus network. The computer system includes a multitude of nodes. In one embodiment, the method comprises taking inputs from a set of receivers of the nodes, dividing the inputs from the receivers into a plurality of classes, combining the inputs of each of the classes to obtain a result, and sending said result to a set of senders of the nodes. Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system and computer program product for embedding a collective network in a parallel computer system organized as a torus network. In one embodiment, the method comprises adding to a torus network a central collective logic to route messages among at least a group of nodes in a tree structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2013
    Publication date: August 21, 2014
    Applicant: International Business Machines Coroporation
    Inventors: Dong Chen, Paul W. Coteus, Noel A. Eisley, Alan Gara, Philip Heidelberger, Robert M. Senger, Valentina Salapura, Burkhard Steinmacher-Burow, Yutaka Sugawara, Todd E. Takken
  • DYNAMIC HARD ERROR DETECTION
    Publication number: 20140229776
    Abstract: An apparatus for detecting hard errors in a circuit includes a storage device and a processing circuit. The storage has stored therein test data and normal data. The processing circuit includes combinational logic in series with at least one set of input latches and at least one set of output latches. The apparatus includes a test control module configured to control the processing circuit to halt a flow of normal data through the processing circuit and run the test data through the processing circuit while subjecting the processing circuit to a stress condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2013
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Pradip Bose, Alan Gara, Hans M. Jacobson
  • DYNAMIC HARD ERROR DETECTION
    Publication number: 20140229784
    Abstract: A method of testing a circuit includes halting a flow of normal data through the circuit, running test data through the circuit while subjecting the circuit to a stress condition, and determining whether a hard error exists in the circuit based on the running of the test data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2013
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Pradip Bose, Alan Gara, Hans M. Jacobson
  • List based prefetch
    Patent number: 8806141
    Abstract: A list prefetch engine improves a performance of a parallel computing system. The list prefetch engine receives a current cache miss address. The list prefetch engine evaluates whether the current cache miss address is valid. If the current cache miss address is valid, the list prefetch engine compares the current cache miss address and a list address. A list address represents an address in a list. A list describes an arbitrary sequence of prior cache miss addresses. The prefetch engine prefetches data according to the list, if there is a match between the current cache miss address and the list address.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Boyle, Norman Christ, Alan Gara, Changhoan Kim, Robert Mawhinney, Martin Ohmacht, Krishnan Sugavanam
  • MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEM WITH MULTIPLE CONCURRENT MODES OF EXECUTION
    Publication number: 20140207987
    Abstract: A multiprocessor system supports multiple concurrent modes of speculative execution. Speculation identification numbers (IDs) are allocated to speculative threads from a pool of available numbers. The pool is divided into domains, with each domain being assigned to a mode of speculation. Modes of speculation include TM, TLS, and rollback. Allocation of the IDs is carried out with respect to a central state table and using hardware pointers. The IDs are used for writing different versions of speculative results in different ways of a set in a cache memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2013
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Daniel Ahn, Luis H. Ceze, Dong Chen Chen, Alan Gara, Philip Heidelberger, Martin Ohmacht
  • Non-volatile memory for checkpoint storage
    Patent number: 8788879
    Abstract: A system, method and computer program product for supporting system initiated checkpoints in high performance parallel computing systems and storing of checkpoint data to a non-volatile memory storage device. The system and method generates selective control signals to perform checkpointing of system related data in presence of messaging activity associated with a user application running at the node. The checkpointing is initiated by the system such that checkpoint data of a plurality of network nodes may be obtained even in the presence of user applications running on highly parallel computers that include ongoing user messaging activity. In one embodiment, the non-volatile memory is a pluggable flash memory card.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Matthias A. Blumrich, Dong Chen, Thomas M. Cipolla, Paul W. Coteus, Alan Gara, Philip Heidelberger, Mark J. Jeanson, Gerard V. Kopcsay, Martin Ohmacht, Todd E. Takken