Patent ID: 8543773

Claim:
A method for recovering ownership of a plurality of data segments in a distributed shared memory (DSM) having a plurality of distributed shared memory (DSM) agents using a processor device, comprising: upon initiating a request for access to a requested data segment remotely connected and determining by a local DSM agent that the local DSM agent is not the owner of the requested data segment, an upgrade in an access permission to the requested data segment is required, and the local DSM agent has no ongoing messaging session with a remote DSM agent for the requested data segment: initiating the messaging session by the local DSM agent by sending a message to a remote DSM agent that the local DSM agent is not the owner of the requested data segment; and sending a response by the remote DSM agent to the local DSM agent granting ownership of the requested data segment to the local DSM agent after the remote DSM agent receives the message and determines from local parameters of the remote DSM agent that the remote DSM agent is not the owner of the requested data segment, wherein a predetermined remote DSM agent resolves a no-ownership deadlock by unblocking a request for a data segment.