Design of the Runtime System for the Portable Threaded-C Language

Multithreaded programming helps in eliminating two major pitfalls of conventional parallel programming - communication latency and synchronization overhead. The multithreading language design, while conforming to the goals of high performance and resource utilization, should isolate the user from low-level implementation details like load-balancing, data-communication, and memory allocation. The runtime system (RTS) assumes the responsibility to provide an ideal interface between the multithreaded code and the hardware platform, and implements an environment for efficient execution of threads. The portability of the RTS may be enhanced by minimizing interaction between the RTS and the hardware/network platforms. Our study shows that an optimized RTS for the implementation of the multithreaded programming model is achievable by pursuing sound policies implemented with advanced programming methodologies. EARTH is a multithreaded programming model developed at the ACAPS lab at McGill Univ..