Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for concurrent thread synchronization

US6167424A · kind A · utility

31Cited by
20References
26Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 27, 1997
Grant dateDec 26, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 27, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99944
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for locking and unlocking objects using synchronized threads are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented method for using a first thread to obtain a header value of an object includes replacing contents of a header of the object with a sentinel which identifies an execution stack associated with the first thread. Once the object contents are replaced with the sentinel, a determination is made regarding whether the object contents include a header value of the object, and when it is determined that the object contents do not include the header value of the object, a determination is made as to when the object is in the process of being studied by a second thread. In one embodiment, when it is determined that the object is not in the process of being studied by the second thread, the method involves adding the first thread to a list associated with the stack.

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