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:
Aug. 08, 2006
Filed:
Jun. 25, 2002
Jean Louis Calvignac, Cary, NC (US);
Gordon Taylor Davis, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Marco Heddes, Lawrence, MA (US);
Steven Kenneth Jenkins, Raleigh, NC (US);
Ross Boyd Leavens, Cary, NC (US);
Robert Brian Likovich, Jr., Raleigh, NC (US);
Jean Louis Calvignac, Cary, NC (US);
Gordon Taylor Davis, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Marco Heddes, Lawrence, MA (US);
Steven Kenneth Jenkins, Raleigh, NC (US);
Ross Boyd Leavens, Cary, NC (US);
Robert Brian Likovich, Jr., Raleigh, NC (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
An ordered semaphore management subsystem and method for use in an application system which includes a plurality of processors competing for shared resources each of which is controlled by a unique semaphore. The subsystem generates an ordered semaphore field (OSF) corresponding to each processor in a linked list of processors and assigns one of four statuses to the OSF depending on the position the processor occupies in the linked list of processors competing for the shared resources. The four states are (1) semaphore head (SH); (2) behind semaphore head (BSH); (3) semaphore head behind (SHB); and (4) skip (Skip). Only the SH processor is allocated the semaphore when requested. A processor not in the SH state will be denied the semaphore even if is available to assure sequential access.