Tessellation: Space-Time Partitioning in a Manycore Client OS∗

We argue for space-time partitioning (STP) in manycore operating systems. STP divides resources such as cores, cache, and network bandwidth amongst interacting software components. Components are given unrestricted access to their resources and may schedule them in an application-specific fashion, which is critical for good parallel application performance. Components communicate via messages, which are strictly controlled to enhance correctness and security. We discuss properties of STP and ways in which hardware can assist STP. We introduce Tessellation, a new operating system built on top of STP, which restructures a traditional operating system as a set of distributed interacting services. In Tessellation, parallel applications can efficiently coexist and interact with one another.