Patent ID: 7614054

Claim:
A method comprising: determining a state of a variable corresponding to a semaphore; generating a semaphore entry for a thread of instructions prior to dispatch of the thread for execution if the variable is in a first state, wherein the first state indicates that the semaphore is to notify the thread that the semaphore has been acquired; and dispatching the thread of instructions for execution prior to generating the semaphore entry for the thread if the variable is in a second state, wherein the second state indicates that the semaphore is not to notify the thread that the semaphore has been acquired, wherein the semaphore is to cause change in a state of the thread via a thread scheduler and wherein generating the semaphore entry for the thread of instructions prior to dispatch of the thread of instructions if the variable is in the first state comprises: transmitting a message to a semaphore entity to request control of the semaphore by the thread of instructions; and dispatching the thread of instructions to execution circuitry in response to receiving a signal indicating that the semaphore entity has processed the message.