Task synchronization mechanism and method
US6990560B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 16, 2003 |
| Grant date | Jan 24, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 21, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/544
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A task synchronization mechanism operates on a global lock that is shared between processors an on local locks that are not shared between processors. The local locks are processor-specific locks. Each processor-specific lock is dedicated to a particular processor in the system. When shared access to a resource is required, a processor updates its processor-specific lock to indicate the processor is sharing the resource. Because each processor-specific lock is dedicated to a particular processor, this eliminates a significant portion of the memory bus traffic associated with all processors reading and updating the same lock. When exclusive access to a resource is required, the requesting processor waits until the count of all processor-specific locks indicate that none of these processors have a lock on the resource. Once no processor has a lock on the resource, exclusive access to the resource may be granted.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.