Actor Systems for Real-Time Computation.

Abstract

Actor theory was invented by Hewitt and collaborators as a synthesis of many of the ideas from the high-level languages LISP, GEDANKEN, SMALLTALK, SIMULA-67 and others. Actor theory consists of a group of active objects called ACTORS, which communicate by passing messages to one another. This thesis explores several problems associated with implementing Actor theory as a basis for computer system design. First, we give a firmer foundation to the theory by setting forth axioms which must be satisfied by any physically realizable message-passing system. We then give an operational semantics for this theory by exhibiting an interpreter which is a concrete model for the theory. Thirdly, we explore the implementation questions of mapping this conceptual system onto current hardware in such a way that simple primitive operations all take a (small) bounded amount of time. In particular, the issues of storage and processor management are investigated and a real-time incremental garbage system for both is exhibited and analyzed. (Author)

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1978
Accession Number
ADA053328

Entities

People

  • Henry G. Baker Jr.

Organizations

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Automata
  • Birds
  • Computations
  • Computer Architecture
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Content Addressable Memory
  • Databases
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Health Services
  • Language
  • Parallel Computing
  • Programming Languages
  • Systems Engineering

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Parallel and Distributed Computing.
  • Theoretical Analysis.