Dynamically negotiated resource management for data intensive application suites

In contemporary computers and networks of computers, various application domains are making increasing demands on the system to move data from one place to another, particularly under some form of soft real-time constraint. A brute force technique for implementing applications in this type of domain demands excessive system resources, even though the actual requirements by different parts of the application vary according to the way it is being used at the moment. A more sophisticated approach is to provide applications with the ability to dynamically adjust resource requirements according to their precise needs, as well as the availability of system resources. This paper describes a set of principles for designing systems to provide support for soft real-time applications using dynamic negotiation. Next, the execution level abstraction is introduced as a specific mechanism for implementing the principles. The utility of the principles and the execution level abstraction is then shown in the design of three resource managers that facilitate dynamic application adaptation: Gryphon, EPA/RT-PCIP, and the DQM architectures.