David R Harper

US Patent:

8412889, Apr 2, 2013

Filed:

Oct 16, 2008

Appl. No.:

12/252467

Inventors:

David Harper - Seattle WA, US
Burton Smith - Seattle WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 12/00
G06F 13/00
G06F 13/28

US Classification:

711145, 711E12026

Abstract:

A low-overhead conditional synchronization instruction operates on a synchronization variable which includes a lock bit, a state specification, and bits for user-defined data. The instruction specifies the memory address of the synchronization variable and a condition. During the synchronization instruction the condition is compared to the state specification within an atomic region. The match succeeds if the condition matches the state specification and the lock bit is clear. The synchronization instruction may operate with a cache under a cache coherency protocol, or without a cache, and may include a timeout operand.

US Patent:

20200089503, Mar 19, 2020

Filed:

Dec 18, 2018

Appl. No.:

16/224600

Inventors:

- Redmond WA, US
David T. Harper - Seattle WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 9/38
G06F 9/30

Abstract:

Systems and methods are disclosed for executing instructions with a block-based processor. Instructions can be executed in any order as their dependencies arrive, but the individual instructions are committed in a serial fashion. Further, exception handling can be performed by storing transient state for an instruction block and resuming by restoring the transient state. This allows programmers to see intermediate state for the instruction block before the subject block has committed. In one examples of the disclosed technology, a method of operating a processor executing a block-based instruction set architecture includes executing at least one instruction encoded for an instruction block, responsive to determining that an individual instruction of the instruction block can commit, advancing a commit frontier for the instruction block to include all instructions in the instruction block that can commit, and committing one or more instructions inside the advanced commit frontier.

US Patent:

20190236009, Aug 1, 2019

Filed:

Feb 2, 2018

Appl. No.:

15/887640

Inventors:

- Redmond WA, US
Aaron L. Smith - Seattle WA, US
Gagan Gupta - Bellevue WA, US
David T. Harper - Seattle WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 12/0804
G06F 9/30
G06F 9/38

Abstract:

Systems and methods are disclosed for performing wide memory operations for a wide data cache line. In some examples of the disclosed technology, a processor having two or more execution lanes includes a data cache coupled to memory, a wide memory load circuit that concurrently loads two or more words from a cache line of the data cache, and a writeback circuit situated to send a respective word of the concurrently-loaded words to a selected execution lane of the processor, either into an operand buffer or bypassing the operand buffer. In some examples, a sharding circuit is provided that allows bitwise, byte-wise, and/or word-wise manipulation of memory operation data. In some examples, wide cache loads allows for concurrent execution of plural execution lanes of the processor.

US Patent:

20180081379, Mar 22, 2018

Filed:

Nov 28, 2017

Appl. No.:

15/825082

Inventors:

- Redmond WA, US
David T. HARPER - Seattle WA, US
Stephen HEIL - Sammamish WA, US
Eric C. PETERSON - Woodinville WA, US
Adam B. GLASS - Cambridge, GB
David Alex BUTLER - Cambridge, GB
Austin Nicholas DONNELLY - Cambridge, GB
Antony Ian Taylor ROWSTRON - Cambridge, GB
Sergey LEGTCHENKO - Cambridge, GB

International Classification:

G05D 23/19
G06F 1/26
G06F 1/20
G06F 3/06
G06F 13/40

Abstract:

Low cost storage for write once read rarely data is described. In an embodiment a storage device comprises a plurality of hard disk drives connected to a server via an interconnect fabric. The storage device comprises a cooling system which is only capable of cooling a first subset of the hard disk drives and a power supply system which is only capable of powering a second subset of the hard disk drives and in some examples, the interconnect fabric may be only capable of providing full bandwidth for a third subset of the hard disk drives. Each subset may comprise only a small fraction of hard disk drives. A control mechanism, which may be implemented in software, is provided which controls which hard disk drives are active at any time in order that the constraints set by the cooling and power supply systems and interconnect fabric are not violated.

US Patent:

20170031372, Feb 2, 2017

Filed:

Oct 17, 2016

Appl. No.:

15/295971

Inventors:

- Redmond WA, US
David T. Harper - Seattle WA, US
Stephen Heil - Sammamish WA, US
Eric C. Peterson - Woodinville WA, US
Adam B. Glass - Cambridge, GB
David Alex Butler - Cambridge, GB
Austin Nicholas Donnelly - Cambridge, GB
Antony Ian Taylor Rowstron - Cambridge, GB
Sergey Legtchenko - Cambridge, GB

International Classification:

G05D 23/19
G06F 1/20
G06F 1/26
G06F 3/06

Abstract:

Low cost storage for write once read rarely data is described. In an embodiment a storage device comprises a plurality of hard disk drives connected to a server via an interconnect fabric. The storage device comprises a cooling system which is only capable of cooling a first subset of the hard disk drives and a power supply system which is only capable of powering a second subset of the hard disk drives and in some examples, the interconnect fabric may be only capable of providing full bandwidth for a third subset of the hard disk drives. Each subset may comprise only a small fraction of hard disk drives. A control mechanism, which may be implemented in software, is provided which controls which hard disk drives are active at any time in order that the constraints set by the cooling and power supply systems and interconnect fabric are not violated.

US Patent:

20160269309, Sep 15, 2016

Filed:

May 25, 2016

Appl. No.:

15/164635

Inventors:

- Redmond WA, US
Darko KIROVSKI - Kirkland WA, US
David T. HARPER - Seattle WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC - Redmond WA

International Classification:

H04L 12/911
H04L 12/947
H04L 12/863
H04L 12/24

Abstract:

A data center includes a plurality of computing units that communicate with each other using wireless communication, such as high frequency RF wireless communication. The data center may organize the computing units into groups (e.g., racks). In one implementation, each group may form a three-dimensional structure, such as a column having a free-space region for accommodating intra-group communication among computing units. The data center can include a number of features to facilitate communication, including dual-use memory for handling computing and buffering tasks, failsafe routing mechanisms, provisions to address permanent interface and hidden terminal scenarios, etc.

US Patent:

20150032286, Jan 29, 2015

Filed:

Oct 16, 2014

Appl. No.:

14/516154

Inventors:

- Redmond WA, US
David T. Harper - Seattle WA, US
Stephen Heil - Sammamish WA, US
Eric C. Peterson - Woodinville WA, US
Adam B. Glass - Cambridge, GB
David Alex Butler - Cambridge, GB
Austin Nicholas Donnelly - Cambridge, GB
Antony Ian Taylor Rowstron - Cambridge, GB
Sergey Legtchenko - Cambridge, GB

International Classification:

G05D 23/19
G06F 1/26
G06F 13/40

US Classification:

700300

Abstract:

Low cost storage for write once read rarely data is described. In an embodiment a storage device comprises a plurality of hard disk drives connected to a server via an interconnect fabric. The storage device comprises a cooling system which is only capable of cooling a first subset of the hard disk drives and a power supply system which is only capable of powering a second subset of the hard disk drives and in some examples, the interconnect fabric may be only capable of providing full bandwidth for a third subset of the hard disk drives. Each subset may comprise only a small fraction of hard disk drives. A control mechanism, which may be implemented in software, is provided which controls which hard disk drives are active at any time in order that the constraints set by the cooling and power supply systems and interconnect fabric are not violated.