Method and apparatus for advising a requesting process of a contention scheme to employ to access a shared resource
US5502840A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 3, 1995 |
| Grant date | Mar 26, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 3, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/52
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus in a multiprocessor computer system which advises a requesting process of how it should wait for a system process having shared data and/or shared resources that is currently occupied by another process. The method begins by storing data representing the state of the synchronization lock of the requested process in a memory within the computer system. A first processor acquires exclusive access to the data. The first processor reads the data. The first processor determines from a synchronization lock owner portion of the data if the synchronization lock of the requested process is currently owned by either the requesting process or another process executing on a second processor within the computer system, and if it is owned determines if the contention process indicated in an advice portion of the data is appropriate for the requesting process. If the contention process is appropriate, the first processor releases the exclusive access to the data and performs the contention process indicated by the advice portion of the data. If the contention process is not appropriate, the first processor releases the exclusive access to the data and performs a default con…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.