Patent ID: 7171581

Claim:
A method for controlling access to a resource that may be shared by a plurality of users, which resource has an associated lock and the lock having an associated state comprising the steps of: when a user U a of said users wishes to initiate access said user sends to said lock command X that includes a tuple (M,S), where M=0 and S=B a , where B a uniquely identifies user U a ; when said lock receives said command X, said lock returns to said user its state value B i that is either 0 or a non-zero value that uniquely identifies a user U i that previously set said lock, and when B i =0, said lock sets its state to B a , thereby granting to said user access to said resource, where B a includes an identifier, P a , that uniquely identifies said user, and a time stamp, T a , that is a time pertaining to said user, B a , is such that both P a and T a can be derived from B a . where, when in response to command X said lock returns to said user-said state of said lock B i and B≠0, said user proceeds with the following steps: derives value P i and T from B i ; obtains value T i that pertains to a user identified by P i; if T is not equal T i , sends command Z to said lock, which command includes tuple (M,S), where M=B i ; and where B a =P a +T a *N, where N is an integer and P a is a number less then N.