[PATCH] V-3.0 Single Priority Array O(1) CPU Scheduler Evaluation

[Peter Williams <pwil3058@bigpond.net.au>]

Version 3.1 of the various single priority array scheduler patches for 
2.6.7, 2.6.8-rc2 and 2.6.8-rc3 kernels are now available for evaluation.

This is a bug fix release to fix a problem caused by sched_clock() not 
being monotonic.  This meant that when measuring small time intervals by 
taking the difference between successive calls to sched_clock() there is 
a possibility of obtaining a negative value (or, as unsigned long longs 
are being used, a very big one).  One unfortunate consequence of this is 
that adding to non zero intervals together could lead to a zero result 
and possible divide by zero problems.


1. [ZAPHOD] Runtime selectable choice between a priority based or 
entitlement based O(1) scheduler with active/expired arrays replaced by 
a single array and an O(1) promotion mechanism plus scheduling 
statistics with new interactive bonus mechanism and throughput bonus 
mechanism:

2.6.7 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.7-spa_zaphod_FULL-v3.1?download>
2.6.8-rc2 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.8-rc2-spa_zaphod_FULL-v3.1?download>
2.6.8-rc3 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.8-rc3-spa_zaphod_FULL-v3.1?download>

2. Slightly modified version of Con Kolivas's staircase O(1) scheduler 
with active/expired arrays replaced by a single array and an O(1) 
promotion mechanism:

2.6.7 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.7-spa_sc_FULL-v3.1?download>
2.6.8-rc2 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.8-rc2-spa_sc_FULL-v3.1?download>
2.6.8-rc3 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.8-rc3-spa_sc_FULL-v3.1?download>

3. [HYDRA] Runtime selection between staircase, priority based and 
entitlement based O(1) schedulers:

2.6.7 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.7-spa_hydra_FULL-v3.1?download>
2.6.8-rc2 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.8-rc2-spa_hydra_FULL-v3.1?download>
2.6.8-rc3 
<http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cpuse/patch-2.6.8-rc3-spa_hydra_FULL-v3.1?download>

Other schedulers are also available from 
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/cpuse/>

So as not to interfere with the staircase scheduler's evaluation I do 
not propose to release patches for rc3-mm kernels unless requested.

I'm in the process of simplifying my schedulers (I got carried away with 
the theory) in order to reduce their overhead and hope to release a new 
slimmer version early next week.  Also on the "to do" list are CPU rate 
caps.

Peter
-- 
Peter Williams                                   pwil3058@bigpond.net.au

"Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious."
  -- Ambrose Bierce