A resource allocation framework for heterogeneous SPMD interactive television environments

A framework for autonomously controlling resource allocation at the application level in a distributed, heterogeneous multi-tasking SPMD environment called Operator-controlled, distributed resource allocation is motivated and described. The environment requiring such resource allocation is typified by the interactive television environment. In an interactive television environment, applications that are intended to execute within a virtual machine environment on a viewer's integrated receiver decoder (IRD), are encoded and broadcast with the audio-video television program. Different viewers make different choices to cause the application, which is identically downloaded to each IRD, to execute differently, hence comprising a multi-tasking SPMD environment. In current deployments, the IRDs are furnished by the operator who ensures that each IRD has sufficient resources to execute each and every program that is broadcast concurrently; hence, two viewers making exactly the same choices will execute the downloaded application identically. In the future, IRDs are expected to be available at retail stores, purchased by consumers that may choose more or less functionality so long as the IRD has the minimally acceptable functionality according to standards that are currently being developed by the middleware and consumer electronics vendors in conjunction with broadcasters and MSOs. This expected retail availability will create an environment requiring flexible resource allocation that can account for both the node heterogeneity, as well as viewer choice differences. The resource allocation solution presented in this paper can coexist with the DAVIC resource notification API. It also ensures that only those programs that are trusted by both the provider of the SPMD code and the owner of the node can allocate resources.