Patent ID: 7698708

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: requesting by a first user-level process, lock rights to a resource, wherein said requesting is performed using a token to identify a kernel-level session associated with a lock to the resource, the first user-level process executes on a processor, and the resource is coupled to the processor; if no kernel-level session exists that is associated with the token at the time of said requesting, a kernel-level session is initiated that is associated with the token and identified by the token, wherein the kernel-level session is allocated the lock to the resource; in response to said requesting by the first user-level process, receiving the lock rights, wherein the lock rights are associated with the lock, the kernel-level session persists after termination of the first user-level process and maintains association with the lock, and the lock is associated with the kernel-level session; requesting by a second user-level process, the lock rights to the resource, wherein the second user-level process uses the token to perform the requesting, and the requesting by the second user-level process occurs after the termination of the first user-level process; and in response to said requesting by the second user-level process, receiving the lock rights, wherein the lock rights are associated with the kernel-level session, and the lock rights control access to the resource.