Patent ID: 7289998

Claim:
A method to update a data structure disposed in an embedded device, comprising the steps of: providing a data structure comprising first information; providing a write thread comprising second information; providing (N) non-preemptable threads, wherein (N) is greater than 1; providing a thread dispatcher; providing a data structure indicator; setting said data structure indicator to indicate that said data structure is unusable; creating (N) thread indicators comprising a bitmask which includes (N) bits, wherein each of those bits can be set to either a first value or a second value, and wherein each bit is initially set to said first value; assigning each of said (N) thread indicators to a different one of said (N) threads; upon return of the (i)th thread to the thread dispatcher, setting the (i)th thread indicator to said second value, wherein (i) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N); determining if the thread indicators for each of said (N) threads are set to said second value; operative if the thread indicators for each of said (N) threads are set to said second value: setting said data structure indicator to indicate that said data structure is invalid; updating said data structure to comprise said second information; and setting said data structure indicator to indicate that said data structure is valid.