Patent · US Expired

Synchronization of a client and a server in a prefetching resource allocation system

US5963945A · kind A · utility

26Cited by
8References
42Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJun 5, 1997
Grant dateOct 5, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 5, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99953
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A prefetching resource allocation system is provided. Although performance improvements are realized through the use of prefetching, the use of prefetching introduces a problem where the client and the server may become unsynchronized with respect to their understanding of whether a resource is allocated. The improved resource allocation system prevents this synchronization problem from occurring by maintaining a counter for the client as well as a counter for the server. Each time that the server allocates a resource to the client, the server increments its counter. Similarly, each time that the client receives an indication that the resource has been allocated on its behalf, the client increments its counter. When the client requests the deallocation of a resource, it provides the current value of its counter. Hence, upon receiving a deallocation request, the server determines if the client's counter value received in the deallocation request is less than the server's counter value. If this condition is true, the synchronization problem has been detected because the resource has been allocated to the client while the deallocation request was in transit to the client. Under these …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.