A special purpose processor for off-loading many operating system functions in a large data processing system

Claim 2

In a processing system having at least one central processor and at least one memory module for storing a plurality of processes to be executed by said at least one central processor, which processes require different events to occur before their execution can be completed, each of such events causing the process being executed to be placed in a wait state, an event allocation mechanism comprising event table means to store event tokens for designation of events and status information about various event tokens including whether that event token has been allocated and whether that designated event has occurred; input means coupled to said at least one central processor and to said event table means to receive a command to allocate an event token to a process currently being executed; output means coupled to said event table means and to said at least one central processor for transmission of a requested event token received from said event table means; and control means coupled to said input means, output means and event table means to respond to said command and to maintain the status of the various event tokens including whether they are available.

Claim 3

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 1, wherein said control means includes a control store for transmission of sets of control signals to effect the operation of the event table means and output means in response to a command from said at least one central processor.

Claim 4

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 2, wherein said input means includes a message buffer coupled to said control store to store additional processor commands for transmission by said control store.

Claim 5

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 1, wherein said event table means contains a linked list of all event tokens that have been allocated to a particular process.

Claim 6

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 1, wherein said event table means includes a link table means for storing a list of all processes having requested each of the particular event tokens.

Claim 7

An event allocation mechanism according to Clam 1, wherein said event table means includes a link table means for storing a list of all processes waiting on each of the allocated event tokens.

Claim 8

An event allocation mechanism according to Clam 1, wherein said event table means includes a link table means for storing a list of all processes waiting on each of the allocated event tokens.

Claim 9

In a processing system having at least one central processor and at least one memory module for storing a plurality of processes to be executed by said at least one central processor, which processes require different events to occur before their execution can be completed, each of such events causing the process being executed to be placed in a wait state, an event allocation mechanism comprising event table means to store event tokens for designation of events and status information about various event tokens including whether that event token has been allocated and whether that designated event has occurred; input means coupled to said at least one central processor and to said event table means to receive a command to allocate an event token to a process currently being executed; output means coupled to said event table means and to said at least one central processor for transmission of a requested event token received from said event table means; and control means coupled to said input means, output means and event table means to respond to said command and to maintain the status of the various event tokens including whether they are available, said control means changing the event status in said event table to event has occurred in response to a command received by said input means.

Claim 10

In a processing system having at least one central processor and at least one memory module for storing a plurality of processes to be executed by said at least one central processor, which processes require different events to occur before their execution can be completed, each of such events causing the process being executed to be placed in a wait state, an event allocation mechanism comprising event table means to store event tokens for designation of events and status information about various event tokens including whether that event token has been allocated and whether that designated event has occurred; input means coupled to said at least one central processor and to said event table means to receive a command to allocate an event token to a process currently being executed; output means coupled to said event table means and to said at least one central processor for transmission of a requested event token received from said event table means; and control means coupled to said input means, output means and event table means to respond to said command and to maintain the status of the various event tokens including whether they are available, said control means changing the event status in said event table to event has occurred in response to a command received by said input means.

Claim 11

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 7, wherein said control means includes a control store for transmission of sets of control signals to effect the operation of the event table means and output means in response to a command from said at least one central processor.

Claim 12

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 8, wherein said input means includes a message buffer coupled to said control store to store additional processor commands for transmission by said control store.

Claim 13

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 9, wherein said event table means contains a linked list of all event tokens that have been allocate to a particular process.

Claim 14

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 10, wherein said event table means includes a link table means for storing a list of all processes having requested each of the particular event tokens.

Claim 15

An event allocation mechanism according to Claim 1, wherein said event table means includes a link table means for storing a list of all processes waiting on each of the allocated event tokens.