Towards Implementation of Virtual-Clustered Multiprocessor Scheduling in Linux

Abstract—Cluster based multiprocessor scheduling can be seen as a hybrid approach combining benefits of both partitioned and global scheduling. Virtual clustering further enhances it by providing dynamic cluster resource allocation and applying hierarchical scheduling techniques. Over the years, the study of virtual cluster scheduling has been limited to theoretical analysis. In this paper, we present our initial ideas on implementing virtual cluster scheduling in Linux. The purpose of this implementation is twofold: (i) we would like to demonstrate the feasibility of its implementation in an operating system, without modifying the kernel source code, (ii) we present practical insights on the overhead of implementing this framework. I