Methods and systems for creating and communicating with computer processes
US7089561B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 1, 2001 |
| Grant date | Aug 8, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 17, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L67/133
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Disclosed are mechanisms for creating and communicating with computer processes. An application programming interface (API) presents services of the system to applications. The API is usable with all processes, local and remote, and is transparent with respect to the location of processes. A process table stores information about processes created using the system. The process table supports centralized process control and peer-to-peer process communication and synchronization. Each process is assigned a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) that uniquely identifies the process no matter the computing device on which it runs. A parent UUID and a group UUID may be attached to the process and used for enforcing dependencies (e.g., for halting the process and all of its child processes) and for managing arbitrary, user-defined groups, respectively. A global event is associated with each process. When a process receives this event, it performs a controlled shutdown, cleans up, and reports status.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.