The M-Machine Operating System

Abstract

This document details the design and implementation of an operating system written specifically for the M-Machine, a multicomputer currently being designed at MIT. The operating system is designed to be lightweight and flexible, able to support a UNIXlike operating system layer interface to higher-level code, while at the same time exposing machine primitives to user programs in a safe and efficient manner. The operating system's central features are its support for fast and efficient thread creation and built-in memory-coherence to present the view of global virtual memory to userlevel programs as well as higher-level protected subsystems. Four core components are presented - the physical and virtual memory managers, the thread manager, and the memory-coherence manager. Thesis Supervisor: William J. Dally Title: Associate Professor Acknowledgments My participation in the M-Machine project has involved the most exciting and challenging work that I have so far undertaken. I would lik..