Multiple Processors
The B5000 line also were pioneers in having multiple processors connected together on a high-speed bus. The B7000 line could have up to 8 processors, as long as at least one was an IO module. Note that RDLK is a very low-level way of synchronizing between processors. The high level used by user programs is the EVENT data type. The EVENT data type did have some system overhead. To avoid this overhead, a special locking technique called Dahm locks (named after a Burroughs software guru, Dave Dahm) can be used.
Notable operators are:
HEYU — send an interrupt to another processor
RDLK — Low-level semaphore operator: Load the A register with the memory location given by the A register and place the value in the B register at that memory location in a single uninterruptible cycle
WHOI — Processor identification
IDLE — Idle until an interrupt is received
Two processors could infrequently simultaneously send each other a 'HEYU' command resulting in a lockup known as 'a deadly embrace'.
Read more about this topic: Burroughs Large Systems
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