Patent ID: 6105085
Filing Date: 2000-08-15
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method of providing lock services for shared resources where said resources may be locked over several input/output (I/O) transactions, said method comprising the steps of:providing, for every one of said resources, an associated lock structure stored in a memory accessible by a plurality of requesting devices, said lock structure including a lock portion a reserve portion and a state portion;setting, by one of said requesting devices a hardware lock on a memory location corresponding to one of said lock structures associated with a desired resource;examining the contents of said one lock structure to determine if another requesting device has previously locked said desired resource; andif no other requesting device has previously locked said desired resource, in a single transaction, writing data to said one lock structure lock information to said lock portion and reserve information to said reserve portion; andafter said writing step, releasing said hardware lock.