Efficient timer management system
US6826761B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 28, 2000 |
| Grant date | Nov 30, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 17, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F1/14
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A timer management system and method for managing timers in both a synchronous and asynchronous system. In one embodiment of the present invention, a timer management system comprises an application program interface (API) for providing a set of synchronous functions allowing an application to functionally operate on the timer. The timer management system further comprises a timer database for storing timer-related information. Furthermore, the timer management system comprises a timer services for detecting the expiring of the timer. A handle function of the timer services allows an asynchronous application, i.e., application in a multi-task system, to synchronously act on the timer. That is, when a timer in a asynchronous system times-out, the handle function allows the asynchronous application to act on the expired timer without incurring an illegal time-out message. In another embodiment of the present invention, a timer may be reinitialized from the same allocated block of memory used to create the timer. In another embodiment of the present invention, a time-out message may be sent using the same allocated block of memory used to create the timer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.