Background
Multithreading Overview
In a multitasking OS (or an application written specifically for a multiprocessor system) a job may be subdivided into multiple tasks (also referred to as threads). In an SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessing) system (see Figure 39-1 on page 967), multiple physical processors reside on the FSB. Each processor in an SMP system can be commanded to execute a separate thread.
Figure 39-1. An Example Multiprocessor (MP) System
The threads comprising the overall task are simultaneously executed by the array of processors, yielding increased performance. This is commonly referred to as Thread-Level Parallelism (TLP).
How Threads ...
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