NZTM: nonblocking zero-indirection transactional memory

This workshop paper reports work in progress on NZTM, a nonblocking, zero-indirection object-based hybrid transactional memory system. NZTM can execute transactions using best-effort hardware transactional memory if it is available and effective, but can execute transactions using NZSTM, our compatible software transactional memory system otherwise. Previous nonblocking software and hybrid transactional memory implementations pay a significant performance cost in the common case, as compared to simpler, blocking ones. However, blocking is problematic in some cases and unacceptable in others. NZTM is nonblocking, but shares the advantages of recent blocking STM proposals in the common case: it stores object data "in place", thus avoiding the costly levels of indirection in previous nonblocking STMs, and improves cache performance by collocating object metadata with the data it controls.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: SPAA
• Authors: Fuad Tabba, Mark Moir, James R. Goodman, Andrew W. Hay, Cong Wang
• Keywords: Hardware Transactional Memory, Hybrid Transactional Memory, Parallel Computing, SPAA 2009, Transactional Memory Implementations