Patent ID: 6513084
Filing Date: 2003-01-28
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A computerized method for arbitrating changes made to a shared entity in a network having multiple nodes with at least one of the nodes acting as an instigator for an arbitration cycle, the method comprising:broadcasting, by each instigator node, a proposal message pertaining to the shared entity; sending, by each node that receives a proposal message, a response to each proposal message to the instigator node that broadcast the proposal message; receiving, by each instigator node, the responses to the proposal message it broadcast; determining, by each instigator node, a winning instigator node; determining, by each node, an order for each proposal message; broadcasting, by the winning instigator node, a closure message containing a list of instigator nodes in the arbitration cycle; and changing, by each node, the shared entity in accordance with the order for each proposal message broadcast by one of the instigator nodes in the arbitration cycle.