Patent ID: 7634589
Filing Date: 2009-12-15
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of controlling interrupt frequency from a peripheral adapter in a processing system, said method comprising: measuring a transmit queue depth and a receive queue depth of said peripheral adapter, wherein the transmit queue depth is a first quantity of data held in the peripheral adapter for transmission to one or more peripheral connections and wherein the receive queue depth is a second quantity of data held in the peripheral adapter that have been received by the peripheral adapter from one or more peripheral connections; computing a ratio of said transmit queue depth to said receive queue depth, by dividing the first quantity by the second quantity; comparing a current value of said ratio to a historical value for said ratio to obtain an estimate of processor load within said processing system; and adjusting a control value stored in said peripheral adapter that controls said interrupt frequency, wherein said control value is adjusted in conformity with said estimate of processor load; wherein said adjusting comprises: adjusting a queue depth threshold and wherein said method further comprises: determining whether or not said receive queue depth exceeds said queue depth threshold, and in response to determining that said receive queue depth exceeds said queue depth threshold, generating an interrupt.