Patent ID: 7209920

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of accessing a data structure, the method comprising: initializing a flux count associated with a data structure to an even value; in response to a request to modify the data structure, sequentially and in order: incrementing the flux count to an odd value; acquiring an exclusive serialization mechanism for the data structure; modifying the data structure; releasing the exclusive serialization mechanism; and incrementing the flux count to an even value; and in response to a request to access data from the data structure, sequentially and in order: copying the flux count to obtain a first copy of the flux count; copying the requested data from the data structure to obtain a copy of the requested data; copying the flux count to obtain a second copy of the flux count; and determining that the copy of the requested data is valid if the first copy of the flux count is an even value and the first and second copies of the flux count are equal.