System and method for space efficient object locking using a data subarray and pointers
US5701470A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 8, 1995 |
| Grant date | Dec 23, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 8, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S707/99953
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In summary, the present invention is a multithreaded computer system having a memory that stores a plurality of objects and a plurality of procedures. Each object has a lock status of locked or unlocked, and includes a data pointer to a data structure. The system uses a first object locking procedure to service lock requests on objects that have never been locked as well as object that have not recently been locked, and uses a second object locking procedure to service lock requests on locked objects and object that have been recently locked. The first object locking procedure has instructions for changing a specified unlocked object's lock status to locked, for copying the data structure referenced by the data pointer to an enlarged data structure including a lock data subarray for storing lock data, and for updating the data pointer to point to the enlarged data structure. The second object locking procedure has instructions for updating a specified object's stored lock data. A lock data cleanup procedure, executed when the system's garbage collection procedure is executed, releases the lock data subarray of a specified object if the object has not been recently locked.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.