Method for preventing deadlock by suspending operation of processors, bridges, and devices
US6292860A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 16, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 18, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 16, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/4036
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A deadlock-avoidance system for a computer. In a multi-bus, multi-processor computer, one processor may request a lock on a bus, to execute a locked cycle, thereby blocking all other processors, and other agents, from access to the bus. In addition, a conflicting agent may, in effect, lock a resource which is needed by the processor to complete the cycle for which the lock was requested. These two locks can create a deadlock situation which stalls the computer: the processor and the conflicting agent have each locked a resource needed by the other. Under the invention, when a locked cycle is requested by a processor, all other operations are suspended in the computer. Then queues standing in memory controllers are emptied. If a process requested by an agent occupies a resource, such as a bridge, required by the requested locked cycle, that resource is freed. Then the locked cycle is executed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.