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Multitasking is a common feature of computer operating systems since at least the 1960s. It allows more efficient use of the computer hardware; when a program is waiting for some external event such as a user input or an input/output transfer with a peripheral to complete, the central processor can still be used with another program.
Even though it is very difficult to further speed up a single thread or single program, most computer systems are actually multitasking among multiple threads or programs. Thus, techniques that improve the throughput of all tasks result in overall performance gains. Two major techniques for throughput computing are multithreading and ...
Concurrency is pervasive in computing, occurring from low-level hardware on a single chip to worldwide networks. Examples follow. At the programming language level: Channel; Coroutine; Futures and promises; At the operating system level: Computer multitasking, including both cooperative multitasking and preemptive multitasking
Explicitly parallel instruction computing (EPIC) is like VLIW with extra cache prefetching instructions. Simultaneous multithreading (SMT) is a technique for improving the overall efficiency of superscalar processors.
The first published paper describing what is now known as hyper-threading in a general purpose computer was written by Edward S. Davidson and Leonard. E. Shar in 1973. [10] Denelcor, Inc. introduced multi-threading with the Heterogeneous Element Processor (HEP) in 1982. The HEP pipeline could not hold multiple instructions from the same process.
Two early examples of a mainframe master/slave multiprocessor are the Bull Gamma 60 and the Burroughs B5000. [ 11 ] An early example of a master/slave multiprocessor system of microprocessors is the Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 16 desktop computer which came out in February 1982 and ran the multi-user/multi-tasking Xenix operating system ...
Multitasking may refer to: Computer multitasking, the concurrent execution of multiple tasks (also known as processes) over a certain period of time Cooperative multitasking; Pre-emptive multitasking; Human multitasking, the apparent performance by an individual of handling more than one task at the same time
In a multitasking context, it refers to the process of storing the system state for one task, so that task can be paused and another task resumed. A context switch can also occur as the result of an interrupt , such as when a task needs to access disk storage , freeing up CPU time for other tasks.