Computer resources access control apparatus and method

• US 6,101,569 A
• Filed: 07/07/1998
• Issued: 08/08/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Okuyama, Kenichi, Miyamoto, Kohtaroh
• Primary Examiner(s): Auve, Glenn A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lefkowitz, Sumati
• Application Number:
  US09/111,029
• Time in Patent Office: 763 Days
• Field of Search: 710/200, 707/8, 711/151-153, 709/102-108
• US Class Current: 710/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99938 Concurrency, e.g. lock management in shared database

Abstract

The present invention is directed to obtaining a correct processing result without an inexpedience such as a starvation by having a plurality of processes gain an access in parallel to a resource such as a VRAM. When one of a plurality of processing means requests an exclusive access to a portion of a resource, a lock range processing part 122 permits an exclusive access only when the process does not result in an inexpedience, for example, when other processing means is not permitted to gain an exclusive access to an overlapped portion. Further, the lock range processing part 122 inhibits permission of an exclusive access to other portion overlapping a portion and permits an exclusive access to such portion when the number of permissions of exclusive accesses to other portion overlapping this portion exceeds a given number while an exclusive access to such portion is not permitted. The lock range processing part 122 thus prevents a starvation from occurring by limiting the number of permissions of an exclusive access to other overlapping portion passing a portion which overlaps the other overlapping portion.

Claims

1. A computer resource access control apparatus which, when one of a plurality of processing means requests an access to a plurality of portions comprising divisions of the computer resource which are divided such that at least a part of areas may overlap each other while inhibiting an access by other processing means (exclusive access), permits or inhibits said exclusive access to said portions, comprising;

exclusive access permission control means, operative when said processing means requests an exclusive access to said portion while an exclusive access to other one or more of said portions having an area overlapping said portion to which said processing means requested an exclusive access is not permitted, for permitting said processing means requesting the exclusive access to gain an exclusive access to said portion,

a plurality of counting means provided in correspondence to each of said portions for counting the number of said exclusive accesses permitted to said other one or more portions having an area overlapping the corresponding one of said portions for each period in which said exclusive access to corresponding one of said portions is requested while said exclusive access to the corresponding one of said portions is not permitted, and

access inhibiting control means for inhibiting permission of an exclusive access to said other one or more portions having an area overlapping said portion corresponding to said counting means when the count of said counting means reaches a predetermined value.

2. A computer resource access control apparatus of claim 1 in which said plurality of processing means gain an exclusive accesses to said portion when an exclusive access is permitted while they wait a permission of exclusive access to said portion when the exclusive access is inhibited.

3. A computer resource access control apparatus of claim 2 in which, said access permission control means comprises;

permission list preparing means for preparing a permission list which indicates said portions to which an exclusive access has been permitted, waiting list preparing means for preparing a waiting list indicating said portions to which said processing means wait to gain an exclusive access, and

exclusive access permission means for permitting an exclusive access to the portions(s) other than said portion(s) indicated by said permission list, said portion(s) having an area overlapping said portion(s) indicated by said permission list, and said portion(s) indicated by said waiting list among said portions to which an exclusive access is requested.

4. A computer resource access control apparatus of claim 3 in which said plurality of processing means notify completion of an exclusive access when the exclusive access to said portion(s) is completed while said permission list preparing means adds to said permission list said portion(s) to which the exclusive access was permitted and removes said portion(s) which was notified of completion of exclusive access from said permission list.

5. A computer resource access control apparatus of claim 3 in which said waiting list preparing means adds to said waiting list said portion(s) indicated by said permission list, said portion(s) having an area overlapping said portion(s) indicated by said permission list, and said portion(s) to which an exclusive access was inhibited among said portions to which an exclusive access was requested while removing from said waiting list said portion(s) corresponding to said counting means the count of which reaches said predetermined value.

6. A computer resource access control method in which, when one of a plurality of processing means requests an access to a plurality of portions comprising divisions of the computer resource which are divided such that at least a part of areas may overlap each other while inhibiting another processing means from gaining an access (exclusive access), permits or inhibits each of said processing means to gain said exclusive access to said portions, comprising;

permitting said processing means requesting the exclusive access to gain an exclusive access to said portion when said processing means requests an exclusive access to said portion while an exclusive access to other one or more of said portions having an area overlapping said portion to which said processing means requested an exclusive access is not permitted,

counting the number of said exclusive accesses permitted to said other one or more portions having an area overlapping corresponding one of said portions for each period in which said exclusive access to corresponding one of said portions is requested and said exclusive access to the corresponding one of said portions is not permitted and,

inhibiting permission of an exclusive access to said other one or more portions having an area overlapping said portion in which said count reaches a predetermined value.

7. A computer readable recording medium recording therein a program which, when one of a plurality of processing means requests an access to a plurality of portions comprising divisions of the computer resource which are divided such that at least a part of areas may overlap each other while inhibiting another processing means from gaining an access (exclusive access), permits or inhibits each of said processing means to agin said exclusive access to said portions, and causes a computer to execute the steps of;

permitting said processing means requesting the exclusive access to gain an exclusive access to said portion when said processing means requests an exclusive access to said portion while an exclusive access to other one or more of said portions having an area overlapping said portion to which said processing means requested an exclusive access is not permitted,

counting the number of said exclusive accesses permitted to said other one or more portions having an area overlapping corresponding one of said portions for each period in which said exclusive access to corresponding one of said portions is requested and said exclusive access to the corresponding one of said portions is not permitted, and inhibiting permission of an exclusive access to said other one or more portions having an area overlapping said portion in which said count reaches a predetermined value.