Hardware-assisted spinlock

A spinlock controller comprising:

• a lock logic;
• an unlock logic;
• and
• a hardware circuitry configured to:
• execute the lock logic responsive to a lock acquire request by adding a lock acquire request to a lock waiter array;
• and
• execute the unlock logic responsive to a lock release request by obtaining a next active lock waiter from the lock waiter array.

A method comprising:

• distributing, by a lock request distributor, a plurality of lock requests to a plurality of wait queues, wherein each wait queue of the plurality of wait queues is mapped to a lock head in a lock head array stored in a first portion of a memory unit;
• holding, by a lock waiter array stored in a second portion of the memory unit, a number of entries corresponding to each lock head in the lock head array;
• executing, by a spinlock controller, a lock logic responsive to a lock acquire request of the plurality of lock requests by adding the lock acquire request to the lock waiter array;
• and
• executing, by the spinlock controller, an unlock logic responsive to a lock release request of the plurality of lock requests by obtaining a next active lock waiter from the lock waiter array.