CAPABILITY CLASSES OF MULTIPROCESSOR SYNCHRONIZATION TECHNIQUES.

Performance metrics and evaluation criteria are used to develop a novel taxonomy that classifies barrier mechanisms into categories ranging from simple Static-Binding Idle-Tasking methods to robust Dynamic-Binding Any-Tasking methods. Such capabilities include support for multiple barriers, reconfigurable and reusable synchronization resources, and provisions for dynamic process binding. Based on these features, the existing software-based approaches, dedicated-hardware mechanisms, and hybrid hardware/software techniques for synchronization are assessed in order of increasing complexity. Any barrier synchronization algorithm can be readily classified using this taxonomy to understand resource requirements and performance tradeoffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]