CREDIT BASED PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

A system and method to control the allocation of processor (or state machine) execution resources to individual tasks executing in computer systems is described. By controlling the allocation of execution resources, to all tasks, each task may be provided with throughput and response time guarantees. This control is accomplished through workload metering shaping which delays the execution of tasks that have used their workload allocation until sufficient time has passed to accumulate credit for execution (accumulate credit over time to perform their allocated work) and workload prioritization which gives preference to tasks based on configured priorities.