Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for providing serialization support for a computer system

US6665814B2 · kind B2 · utility

36Cited by
9References
38Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 29, 2000
Grant dateDec 16, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 29, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2201/82
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Provided are a method and apparatus for providing serialization support for computer systems and computer system resources, in particular for application programs which require sequencing and/or consistency of data. The computer system resource includes serialized processes with units of work. A serialization token is provided at the start of a serialized process including at least one unit of work. The serialization token remains in force until the or all of the units of work of the process have been committed or rolled back. The serialization token controls the commencement of other processes of the computer system during the time that it is in force. The serialization is carried out by storing an abstract representation of the process to be serialized in storage which is accessible by all the programs and computers where the serialization applies. In this way, if a process fails, the serialization token remains in force until the process has recovered and has committed or rolled back the units of work in the process. The serialization token can allow only a single thread process or, alternatively, the serialization token can allow a multiple thread process in which the threads h…

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