Method and apparatus for coordination of a shared object in a distributed system
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of controlling access to an object shared amongst a plurality of processes in a distributed system, the method comprising steps of:
- (a) assigning one process as an owner of a lock associated with the shared object;
(b) when a process requires access to the shared object, the process requesting the lock from the lock owner process;
(c) when the lock owner process receives the lock request, the lock owner process determining whether or not any process has control of the lock by sending a request to all processes inquiring if a process currently controls the lock associated with the shared object; and
(d) when the lock owner process determines that no process has control of the lock, the lock owner process granting control of the lock to the requesting process.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for coordinating access to a shared object amongst a plurality of processes in a distributed system. One process is identified as a lock owner process controlling a lock associated with the shared object. When a process needs to access the shared object, it requests control of the lock from the lock owner process. When no other process controls the lock, the lock owner process grants control to the requesting process. When another process controls the lock, the lock owner process places the requesting process in a queue and waits for the lock to become available. All accesses to the shared object are processed through the lock owner processes thus assuring coordination and synchronization among the processes.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of controlling access to an object shared amongst a plurality of processes in a distributed system, the method comprising steps of:
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(a) assigning one process as an owner of a lock associated with the shared object; (b) when a process requires access to the shared object, the process requesting the lock from the lock owner process; (c) when the lock owner process receives the lock request, the lock owner process determining whether or not any process has control of the lock by sending a request to all processes inquiring if a process currently controls the lock associated with the shared object; and (d) when the lock owner process determines that no process has control of the lock, the lock owner process granting control of the lock to the requesting process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18)
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14. An apparatus for controlling access to an object shared amongst a plurality of processes in a distributed system, the apparatus comprising:
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means for assigning one process as an owner of a lock associated with the shared object; means for requesting the lock from the lock owner process when a process requires access to the shared object; means for determining whether or not any process has control of the lock when the lock owner process receives the lock request including means for sending a request from the lock owner process to all processes inquiring if a process currently controls the lock associated with the shared object; and means for granting control of the lock to a requesting process when the lock owner determines that no process has control of the lock. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 19)
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Specification