IVirtualProcessorRoot Structure

An abstraction for a hardware thread on which a thread proxy can execute.

Syntax

struct IVirtualProcessorRoot : public IExecutionResource;

Members

Public Methods

Remarks

Every virtual processor root has an associated execution resource. The IVirtualProcessorRoot interface inherits from the IExecutionResource interface. Multiple virtual processor roots may correspond to the same underlying hardware thread.

The Resource Manager grants virtual processor roots to schedulers in response to requests for resources. A scheduler can use a virtual processor root to perform work by activating it with an execution context.

Inheritance Hierarchy

IExecutionResource

IVirtualProcessorRoot

Requirements

Header: concrtrm.h

Namespace: concurrency

IVirtualProcessorRoot::Activate Method

Causes the thread proxy associated with the execution context interface pContext to start executing on this virtual processor root.

virtual void Activate(_Inout_ IExecutionContext* pContext) = 0;

Parameters

pContext
An interface to the execution context that will be dispatched on this virtual processor root.

Remarks

The Resource Manager will supply a thread proxy if one is not associated with the execution context interface pContext

The Activate method can be used to start executing work on a new virtual processor root returned by the Resource Manager, or to resume the thread proxy on a virtual processor root that has deactivated or is about to deactivate. See IVirtualProcessorRoot::Deactivate for more information on deactivation. When you are resuming a deactivated virtual processor root, the parameter pContext must be the same as the parameter used to deactivate the virtual processor root.

Once a virtual processor root has been activated for the first time, subsequent pairs of calls to Deactivate and Activate may race with each other. This means it is acceptable for the Resource Manager to receive a call to Activate before it receives the Deactivate call it was meant for.

When you activate a virtual processor root, you signal to the Resource Manager that this virtual processor root is currently busy with work. If your scheduler cannot find any work to execute on this root, it is expected to invoke the Deactivate method informing the Resource Manager that the virtual processor root is idle. The Resource Manager uses this data to load balance the system.

invalid_argument is thrown if the argument pContext has the value NULL.

invalid_operation is thrown if the argument pContext does not represent the execution context that was most recently dispatched by this virtual processor root.

The act of activating a virtual processor root increases the subscription level of the underlying hardware thread by one. For more information on subscription levels, see IExecutionResource::CurrentSubscriptionLevel.

IVirtualProcessorRoot::Deactivate Method

Causes the thread proxy currently executing on this virtual processor root to stop dispatching the execution context. The thread proxy will resume executing on a call to the Activate method.

virtual bool Deactivate(_Inout_ IExecutionContext* pContext) = 0;

Parameters

pContext
The context which is currently being dispatched by this root.

Return Value

A boolean value. A value of true indicates that the thread proxy returned from the Deactivate method in response to a call to the Activate method. A value of false indicates that the thread proxy returned from the method in response to a notification event in the Resource Manager. On a user-mode schedulable (UMS) thread scheduler, this indicates that items have appeared on the scheduler's completion list, and the scheduler is required to handle them.

Remarks

Use this method to temporarily stop executing a virtual processor root when you cannot find any work in your scheduler. A call to the Deactivate method must originate from within the Dispatch method of the execution context that the virtual processor root was last activated with. In other words, the thread proxy invoking the Deactivate method must be the one that is currently executing on the virtual processor root. Calling the method on a virtual processor root you are not executing on could result in undefined behavior.

A deactivated virtual processor root may be woken up with a call to the Activate method, with the same argument that was passed in to the Deactivate method. The scheduler is responsible for ensuring that calls to the Activate and Deactivate methods are paired, but they are not required to be received in a specific order. The Resource Manager can handle receiving a call to the Activate method before it receives a call to the Deactivate method it was meant for.

If a virtual processor root awakens and the return value from the Deactivate method is the value false, the scheduler should query the UMS completion list via the IUMSCompletionList::GetUnblockNotifications method, act on that information, and then subsequently call the Deactivate method again. This should be repeated until such time as the Deactivate method returns the value true.

invalid_argument is thrown if the argument pContext has the value NULL.

invalid_operation is thrown if the virtual processor root has never been activated, or the argument pContext does not represent the execution context that was most recently dispatched by this virtual processor root.

The act of deactivating a virtual processor root decreases the subscription level of the underlying hardware thread by one. For more information on subscription levels, see IExecutionResource::CurrentSubscriptionLevel.

IVirtualProcessorRoot::EnsureAllTasksVisible Method

Causes data stored in the memory hierarchy of individual processors to become visible to all processors on the system. It ensures that a full memory fence has been executed on all processors before the method returns.

virtual void EnsureAllTasksVisible(_Inout_ IExecutionContext* pContext) = 0;

Parameters

pContext
The context which is currently being dispatched by this virtual processor root.

Remarks

You may find this method useful when you want to synchronize deactivation of a virtual processor root with the addition of new work into the scheduler. For performance reasons, you may decide to add work items to your scheduler without executing a memory barrier, which means work items added by a thread executing on one processor are not immediately visible to all other processors. By using this method in conjunction with the Deactivate method you can ensure that your scheduler does not deactivate all its virtual processor roots while work items exist in your scheduler's collections.

A call to the EnsureAllTasksVisibleThe method must originate from within the Dispatch method of the execution context that the virtual processor root was last activated with. In other words, the thread proxy invoking the EnsureAllTasksVisible method must be the one that is currently executing on the virtual processor root. Calling the method on a virtual processor root you are not executing on could result in undefined behavior.

invalid_argument is thrown if the argument pContext has the value NULL.

invalid_operation is thrown if the virtual processor root has never been activated, or the argument pContext does not represent the execution context that was most recently dispatched by this virtual processor root.

IVirtualProcessorRoot::GetId Method

Returns a unique identifier for the virtual processor root.

virtual unsigned int GetId() const = 0;

Return Value

An integer identifier.

See also

concurrency Namespace