The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 05, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 22, 1997
Timothy G. Lindholm, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Sun Microsystems, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for managing the association of objects with synchronization constructs used to synchronize those objects with threads is described. A cache of synchronization constructs is provided. Synchronization constructs are used to synchronize objects with threads. When a thread requests synchronization with an object, a determination is made of whether a synchronization construct is already associated with the object. If a synchronization construct is already associated with the object, then that synchronization construct is used to synchronize the object with the thread. After association of a synchronization construct with an object, the association is maintained even when the synchronization construct meets termination criteria. Subsequently, a determination is made of whether a collection enabling condition exists. If a collection enabling condition exists, the association of objects with synchronization constructs that meet the termination criteria is terminated. A local table is assigned to each thread. The entries in the local table assigned to a particular thread contain information used to access a synchronization construct currently associated with an object on which the thread is or has in the past synchronized.