System and method for remote object resource management
First Claim
1. A computer system, comprising:
- a plurality of domains, each said domain having a separate address space;
a plurality of objects, each said object associated with a select one of said domains, each said object associated with a first reference count mechanism for tracking references to a specific object within said specific object'"'"'s domain;
an inter-domain communication facility for handling communications between each said domain, said inter-domain communication facility including a second reference count mechanism for tracking references to a particular one of said objects within one or more different domains;
an communication link for connecting said computer system with one or more remote computing nodes; and
an extended communication facility for handling communications between said computer system and said remote computing nodes, said extended communication facility including a third reference count mechanism for tracking references to a certain object by said remote computing nodes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention pertains to a system and method for tracking object references in an object-oriented computing system including a number of independent computing nodes interconnected by a communications link. The reference counting mechanism tracks references to an object at three levels. At a first level, the server handler associated with an object is used to track local references to the object by other user applications within the same domain. At a second level, the inter-process communications facility (i.e., door facility) is used to track object references that are exported to different domains within the same node. At a third level, the kernel object request broker (ORB) is used to track object references that are exported outside the node. When all external object references are released, the ORB notifies the object'"'"'s server handler of this occurrence. Similarly, the door facility notifies the object'"'"'s server handler when all inter-domain references have been released. The object'"'"'s server handler will initiate the appropriate reclamation procedures when it receives notification from the ORB and the door facility and when its own local references have been relinquished.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A computer system, comprising:
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a plurality of domains, each said domain having a separate address space; a plurality of objects, each said object associated with a select one of said domains, each said object associated with a first reference count mechanism for tracking references to a specific object within said specific object'"'"'s domain; an inter-domain communication facility for handling communications between each said domain, said inter-domain communication facility including a second reference count mechanism for tracking references to a particular one of said objects within one or more different domains; an communication link for connecting said computer system with one or more remote computing nodes; and an extended communication facility for handling communications between said computer system and said remote computing nodes, said extended communication facility including a third reference count mechanism for tracking references to a certain object by said remote computing nodes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer readable storage medium for storing data for access by programs being executed on a data processing system including a plurality of nodes, said medium comprising:
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a plurality of domains, each said domain having a separate address space; a plurality of objects, each said object associated with a select one of said domains, each said object associated with a first reference count mechanism for tracking references to a specific object within said specific object'"'"'s domain; an inter-domain communication facility for handling communications between each said domain, said inter-domain communication facility including a second reference count mechanism for tracking references to a particular one of said objects within one or more different domains; an communication link for connecting said computer system with one or more remote computing nodes; and an extended communication facility for handling communications between said computer system and said remote computing nodes, said extended communication facility including a third reference count mechanism for tracking references to a certain object by said remote computing nodes. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for tracking references to an object in a computer system including a plurality of nodes, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of domains in each said node, each said domain having a separate address space, each domain including a plurality of objects and object references, each said object reference associated with a select one of said objects in a server domain in a server node; supplying a first reference counting mechanism for each said object in said server domain, said first reference counting mechanism tracking object references to a select one of said objects within said object'"'"'s server domain; furnishing a second reference counting mechanism for each said object in said server node to track object references to a particular object by one or more domains in said particular object'"'"'s server node; providing a third reference counting mechanism for each said object in said server node to track object references to a certain one of said objects by one or more of said nodes; and enabling deletion of each of said objects when said deleted object'"'"'s corresponding first, second and third reference counting mechanisms indicate that no outstanding references exist to said deleted object. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification