Method and apparatus for a checkpoint based communication processing system

Abstract: A checkpoint based communication processing system achieves a higher efficiency of the system with maintaining a fault tolerance of the system by processing an affixed attribute information to a plurality of communication packets or transfer packets for transferring promptly so as to minimize waiting numbers of the packet until a completion of execution of particular two check points. A sequence number of a taken checkpoint and a relative positioning information are used as the attribute information. The system includes a judging means for judging whether a packet should be transferred as promptly in accordance with the affixed attribute information to the packet.

Description: The present invention relates to method and apparatus for a checkpoint based communication processing system suitable for applying to a fault tolerant computer system. In particular, the present invention relates to method and apparatus for achieving a higher speed communication processing system which is suitable for applying to a checkpoint based fault tolerant computer system. More particularly, the present invention relates to method and apparatus for accomplishing a higher efficiency of a checkpoint based communication processing system with maintaining the fault tolerance of the system. Further more particularly, the present invention relates to method and apparatus for accomplishing a checkpoint based communication processing system which performs a information transfer by using a plurality of communication packets with taking a checkpoint for avoiding a failure. A checkpoint based fault tolerant computer system proceeds with execution of a program which taking a checkpoint periodically for recovering from a failure which appears between two particular checkpoints. When a fault or failure is detected, the execution rolls back to the prior checkpoint of the particular two checkpoints and restarts the execution for recovering the failure. A checkpoint based communication processing system which is applied to a fault tolerant computer system is also proceeded in the substantially same way. Fig. 7 is a timing chart for explaining the transfer operation of the checkpoint based communication processing system. When a request-to-sent instruction (1) is provided to the communication processing system, the system generates a plurality of communication packets (2) for transferring. However, the actual transfer of the generated communication packets is delayed until the execution between the two checkpoint (3A) and (3B) has completed without detecting any failure. After a completion of the execution between the two checkpoints, the transfer (4) of the communication is performed. The reason for delaying the transfer of the communication packets is to measure a possible appearance of a failure between the execution. That means it is possible to cancel the generated communication packets if a failure is detected until the completion of the execution at the next checkpoint. If the communication packets have been transferred before taking the next checkpoint, it is impossible to cancel them when a failure is detected before the next checkpoint. Conventionally, an actual transfer of the generated communication packets must wait or be delayed until the completion of execution between the two particular checkpoints. This causes the deterioration of the efficiency the communication processing system and of the latency of the checkpoint based communication processing system. Recently, fault tolerance of the system is highly desired and a higher efficiency or a higher speed of the communication processing is also highly desired to be achieved for a communication processing system. In order to do so, it is necessary to transfer the communication packets as promptly as possible when they are generated. However the conventional communication processing system could not transfer the communication packet as promptly after the generation, as mentioned before. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide method and apparatus for achieving a higher efficiency of a checkpoint based communication processing system with maintaining a fault tolerance of the system. It is another object of the present invention to provide method and apparatus for transferring the communication packets as promptly as possible after the generation of them whilst keeping the fault tolerance of the checkpoint based communication processing system. It is a further object of the present invention to provide method and apparatus for improving the latency of the conventional communication processing system and achieving a higher efficiency of the checkpoint based communication system with minimizing the number of the waiting communication packets. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide method and apparatus for achieving a higher speed communication processing system which is suitable for applying to a checkpoint based fault tolerant computer system. A checkpoint based communication processing system according to the present single inventive concept can achieve a higher efficiency of the system while maintaining a fault tolerance of the system by processing attribute information affixed to a plurality of communication packets or transfer packets for transferring promptly so as to minimize waiting numbers of the packet until a completion of execution of particular two check points. A sequence number of a taken checkpoint or a relative positioning information are used as the attribute information. The system judges whether a packet should be transferred yet from the attribute information affixed to the packet. A first embodiment of the checkpoint based communication processing system in accordance with the present common inventive concept uses a sequence number of the checkpoint which has been taken during an execution as an attribute information for judging whether or not the communication packet to which it is affixed should be transferred yet. A second embodiment of the checkpoint based communication processing system, uses a relative information among a plurality of transfer packets which are generated from a communication packet as an attribute information for judging whether or not which transfer packet should be transferred yet. The first checkpoint based communication processing system, embodying the common inventive concept, for executing an operation and taking a checkpoint periodically in order to facilitate recovery from a failure which is detected in the operation between two checkpoints, includes; means for controlling overall operation of communication processing; means for generating a plurality of communication packets for the communication processing under control of the means for controlling; means for incrementing a sequence number for a checkpoint, each time a checkpoint has been taken during the operation; means for affixing attribute information to the respective communication packets, comprising the sequence number existing in the means for incrementing at the time the communication packet is generated; and means for judging whether or not the communication packet should be transferred yet by comparing the affixed attribute information and the sequence number presently existing in the means for incrementing. A first method, embodying the common inventive concept, for accomplishing a checkpoint based communication processing system in which execution proceeds with the taking of a checkpoint periodically to facilitate recovery from a failure detected between two checkpoints, includes the steps of: incrementing a sequence number for identifying the respective checkpoint each time a checkpoint has been taken; affixing attribute information to the respective generated communication packet by applying the sequence number existing at the time the communication packet is generated; comparing the affixed attribute information of a communication packet and the present sequence number; and transferring the communication packet only if the affixed attribute information does not coincide with the present sequence number, and delaying the transfer of the communication packet if the affixed attribute information coincides with the present sequence number until such time as the attribute information does not so correspond. The second communication processing system, embodying the common inventive concept, for executing an operation and taking a checkpoint periodically in order to facilitate recovery from a failure which is detected in the operation between two checkpoints, which comprises: means for controlling overall operation of a communication processing; means for generating a plurality of communication packets under control of the means for controlling; means for generating a plurality of transfer packets from the respective communication packet by dividing the communication packet under a particular communication protocol; means for affixing attribute information to the respective transfer packet, the attribute information indicating a relative position of a transfer packet among the plurality of the transfer packets for specifying the last position among the transfer packets; and means for judging whether or not the transfer packet should be transferred yet if the affixed attribute information does not indicate the specified position. The last position among the plural generation of the transfer packets is usually used as the certain particular position. A second method, embodying the common inventive concept, for accomplishing a checkpoint based communication processing system for executing a process and taking a checkpoint periodically in order to avoid facilitate recovery from a failure which is detected in an execution between two checkpoints, includes: generating a plurality or communication packets for transferring in accordance with control by a controller; generating a plurality of transfer packets from the respective communication packet by dividing a communication packet under a particular communication protocol in order to adjust them to a size for a transfer media; affixing an attribute information of a relative position to the respective generated transfer packet in order to identify which transfer packet is the last one among the generated transfer packets; and transferring the transfer packet if the transfer packet is affixed with an attribute information which does not indicate the last position, but instructing to delay transfer packet until a next checkpoint has taken if the affixed attribute information indicates the last position. Embodiments of the invention of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of one preferable embodiment of the checkpoint based communication processing system according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the operational principle of the first embodiment of the checkpoint based communication processing system according to the present invention in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the first method for achieving a checkpoint based communication processing system of a higher efficiency according to the timing chart of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a checkpoint based communication processing system according to the present invention; Fig. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the operational principle of the second embodiment of the checkpoint based communication processing system according to the present invention; Fig. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the second method for achieving a high speed checkpoint based communication processing system according to the timing chart of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a timing chart for explaining a conventional operation for the checkpoint based communication processing system. With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the first preferable embodiment of apparatus and method for a checkpoint based communication system according to the present invention will be explained. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of one preferable embodiment of a checkpoint based communication system according to the present invention. The checkpoint based communication system 2 includes a control means 21, an incrementing means 22, a generating means 23, an affixing means 24, and a comparing means 25. The control means 21 (hereinafter referred to as a control module controls the total operation of the checkpoint based communication system 2. The incrementing means 22 (hereinafter referred to as a sequence number incrementing module) increments and holds a sequence number of a checkpoint at every time the respective checkpoint is taken periodically at a certain time interval for identifying the respective checkpoint. The generating means 23 (hereinafter referred to as a packet generating module) generates a plurality of communication packets in accordance with a request-to-sent from an application 1 for the system 2. The communication packet means a transport packet in a transport layer, like an IP packet. When the packet generating module 23 generates a communication packet, the affixing means 24 (hereinafter referred to as an attribute information affixing module) affixes the sequence number of the checkpoint kept in the sequence number incrementing module 22 at that time to the communication packet. For transferring a communication packet, the comparing means 25 (hereinafter referred to as a comparing and judging module) compares the attribute information attached to the communication packet and a sequence number for the checkpoint which is the lastly taken at the time for a transfer. With reference to Fig. 2, the operational principle of the above mentioned embodiment is explained. Fig. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the operation. When a request-to-send is provided from an application 1, the control module in the communication processing system instructs the packet generating module to generate a plurality of communication packets 4a, 4b and 4c at the point (2). The generated numbers of the communication packets are just shown as an example for the explanation purpose only. Of course, it does not mean the actual number of the generated communication packets. In this example case, a checkpoint (3) is taken just after generation or the communication packet 4a. For transferring the communication packets, the control module provides an instruction signal to the comparing module for checking whether or not the attribute information affixed to the communication packet coincide with the sequence number of the checkpoint maintained in the incrementing module. When the comparing module judges that the attribute information affixed to the communication packet is different from the sequence number in the incrementing module at that time for a transfer (as shown at the point (4)), the control module sends an instruction to transfer the communication packet 4a promptly through a driver. In this example, the attribute information affixed to the respective communication packets 4b and 4c coincides to the sequence number of the checkpoint in the incrementing module. Accordingly, the communication packets 4b and 4c are delayed in their transfer from the system until the next checkpoint has taken. As explained before, the first embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the number of the generated communication packets waiting is decreased by judging the attribute information affixed to the communication packet and the sequence number in the increment module. Fig.3 is a flow chart for explaining a method for the first embodiment. When an application issues a request-to-send to the communication processing system as a first step A1, the control module sends an instruction to generate a plurality of communication packets. At the second step A2, the control module instructs the affixing module to affix the sequence number maintained in the incrementing module as an attribute information at the time when the communication packets were generated. At the third step A3, the control module instructs the comparing module to check whether or not the affixed attribute information coincide with the sequence number of the checkpoint maintained in the incrementing module at the present time for actually transferring the communication packets. If the comparing module judged that the attached attribute information does not coincide with the present sequence number of the checkpoint, the control module sends an instruction to transfer the communication packet having the attribute information promptly from the system through a driver as shown at the fifth step A5. If the attached attribute information coincides with the present sequence number off the checkpoint, the transfer of the communication packet is delayed until the next checkpoint has taken as indicated at the forth step A4. Fig. 4 is a block diagram of another preferable embodiment or a checkpoint based communication processing system according to the present invention. In this case, the checkpoint based communication system 3 includes a control module 31 and a communication packet generating module 33 which are substantially the same as the control module 21 and the communication packet generating module 23 respectively shown in Fig. 1. The communication system 3 further includes a transfer packet generating module 33, an attribute information affixing module 34 and a relative position comparing module 35. When a request-to-send instruction (1) is received from an application 10 as shown in Fig. 5, the control module 31 instructs the communication packet generating module 32 to generate a plurality of communication packets. As explained before, the communication packets are transferred by using in a transport layer, such as an IP packet for-using in an IP layer. In this second embodiment, an actual transfer is performed by using a data link layer. For doing so, the control module 31 instructs the transfer packet generating module 33 to generate a plurality of transfer packets by dividing a communication packet under a particular communication protocol so as to fit the size of the respective transfer packet to the transfer device or a network media. Then the control module 31 instructs the attribute information affixing module 34 to affix a relative position information to the generated transfer packets. The relative position indicates whether the transfer packet is the last one among them. Namely, when a plurality of transfer packets are generated by dividing a communication packet, the last transfer packet only is identified among them. Fig. 5 shows the example in which three transfer packets 5a, 5b and 5c are generated from a communication packet 4a and the last transfer packet 5c is affixed with an attribute information LP. For performing a transfer, the control module 31 instructs the relative position comparing module 35 to check whether or not the transfer packet is the last one from the affixed attribute information. The transfer packets except the last one, like the transfer packets 5a and 5b shown in Fig. 5, are promptly transferred into a transmission line. The last transfer packet 5c only is delayed until the next checkpoint has taken. When a transfer has completed, a receiving side system reconstructs the communication packet from the received transfer packet. If a failure is detected before taking the next checkpoint (4), the last transfer packet 5c is not transferred to the receiving side. Since the transfer of the communication packet has not been completed, the receiving side sends a request signal for resending of the communication packet after detecting a certain timeout. Fig. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the above mentioned operation. In accordance with a request-to-send from an application in the system, the control module in the communication processing system instructs the communication packet generating module to generate a plurality of transfer packets as shown as the first step B1 in Fig. 6. Further the communication packet is divided into a plurality of transfer packets at the second step B2. Then the control module instructs the attribute information affixing module to affix the information for identifying whether or not the transfer packet is the last one at the third step B3. In an actual transfer, the control module instructs the comparing module to recognize whether the transfer packet is the last one or not at the forth step B4. If it is not, the step goes to the sixth step B6 for transferring the transfer packet as promptly. If it is yes, the step goes to the fifth step B5 for waiting the transfer packet until the next checkpoint has taken. As explained, the first embodiment of the checkpoint based communication processing system according to the present invention controls the processing by maintaining the checkpoint sequence number. The second embodiment controls the processing by judging a relative position of the transfer packet. Of course, it is possible to control the communication processing by using both of the checkpoint sequence number and the information of the relative position among the plural transfer packets. For example, an ethernet packet which is generated in an ethernet driver transfer packet corresponds to the transfer packet.

Claims: A checkpoint based communication processing system for executing an operation and taking a checkpoint periodically in order to facilitate recovery from a failure which is detected in the operation between two checkpoints, which system includes means for controlling overall operation of communication processing, and means for generating a plurality of communication packets for the communication processing under control of the means for controlling, the system being characterized in that the system further includes: means for incrementing a sequence number for a checkpoint, each time a checkpoint has been taken during the operation; means for affixing attribute information to the respective communication packets, comprising the sequence number existing in the means for incrementing at the time the communication packet is generated; and means for judging whether or not the communication packet should be transferred yet by comparing the affixed attribute information and the sequence number presently existing in the means for incrementing. A communication processing system for executing an operation and taking a checkpoint periodically in order facilitate recovery from a failure which is detected in the operation between two checkpoints which comprises means for controlling overall operation of communication processing and means for generating a plurality of communication packets under control of the means for controlling, the communication processing system being characterized in that the system further includes: means for generating a plurality of transfer packets from the respective communication packet by dividing the communication packet under a particular communication protocol; means for affixing attribute information to the respective transfer packet, the attribute information indicating a relative position of a transfer packet among the plurality of the transfer packets for specifying the last position among the transfer packets; and means for judging judges whether or not the transfer packet should be transferred yet if the affixed attribute information does not indicate the specified position. A method for accomplishing a checkpoint based communication processing system in which execution proceeds with the taking of a checkpoint periodically to facilitate recovery from a failure detected between two checkpoints, the method being characterized in that the method includes the steps of: incrementing a sequence number for identifying the respective checkpoint each time a checkpoint has been taken; affixing attribute information to the respective generated communication packet by applying the sequence number existing at the time the communication packet is generated; comparing the affixed attribute information of a communication packet and the present sequence number; and transferring the communication packet only if the affixed attribute information does not coincide with the present sequence number, and delaying the transfer of the communication packet if the affixed attribute information coincide with the present sequence number until such time as the attribute information does not so correspond. A method for accomplishing a checkpoint based communication processing system for executing a process and taking a checkpoint periodically in order to facilitate recovery from a failure which is detected in an execution between two checkpoints, the method being characterised in that the steps includes: generating a plurality or communication packets for transferring in accordance with control by a controller; generating a plurality of transfer packets from the respective communication packet by dividing a communication packet under a particular communication protocol in order to adjust them to a size for a transfer media; affixing attribute information of a relative position to the respective generated transfer packet in order to identify which transfer packet is the last one among the generated transfer packets; and transferring the transfer packet if the transfer packet is affixed with an attribute information which does not indicate the last position, but instructing to delay transfer packet until a next checkpoint has taken if the affixed attribute information indicates the last position. A method according to claim 4, characterized in that the method further includes: judging the affixed attribute information of a transfer packet at a time ready for an actual transfer of the transfer packet; and transferring the transfer packet if the affixed attribute information is judged as in an other position than the last position, but controlling the transfer to wait until a next checkpoint has newly counted if the affixed attribute is judged as the last position.

Inventors: HIRAYAMA HIDEAKI, HONDA MAKOTO, HIRAYAMA, HIDEAKI, HONDA, MAKOTO, Hirayama, Hideaki, c/o Intell. Prop. Div., Honda, Makoto, c/o Intell. Prop. Div.
Applicants: TOSHIBA KK, KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
Application year: 1996
Main classification: G06F11
IPC codes: H04L29, G06F11