Loading patent…
AssigneeCompagnie Honeywell Bull
InventorsJacques Bienvenu, Patrick Dufond, Claude Carre, Duc L. Tuong, Henri Verdier, Philippe-Hubert deRivet, John J. Bradley, Benjamin S. Franklin
Estimating the term…
A method of and apparatus for executing a family of instructions provides synchronization of processes in a multiprocessing system. Representations of processes awaiting data (information units) such as the completion of an asynchronous operation or the availability of a resource are stored in a memory in a first queue and representations of information units available to processes are stored in memory in a second queue. Transfer of information units between processes is controlled by data elements known as "semaphores" stored in the memory. Each semaphore contains a field having a numerical value identifying which of the two different kinds of queues is present. When a P instruction is executed by a process indicating that the process requires data in order to continue operating or a V instruction is executed indicating that an information unit is available for transfer to another process, a semaphore is addresses and its field tested to determine whether processes or information units are available to enable the information transfer between processes to be effected. Once the information transfer is completed, the field of the addressed semaphore is up-dated.
In a data processing system wherein a data element is held in a memory member of said system, wherein said memory member holds one of a first queue of representations of processes awaiting information units not available when required by said processes and a second queue of representations of information units available to processes and not required by other processes, wherein said data element operatively associates related ones of said first and second queues with each other, said data element including a field representing the one of said queues present in said memory member, and wherein said system during the execution of a first process executes an instruction of a particular class for transferring an information unit between said first process and a second process, an apparatus for controlling transfer of information units between said first and second processes, comprising:
The method of transferring an information unit between a first processes and a second process in a data processing system, wherein a data element is held in a memory member of said system, wherein one of a first queue of representations of processes awaiting information units not available when required by said processes and a second queue of representations of information units available to processes and not required by other processes is held in said memory member, and wherein said data element operatively associates related ones of said first and second queues with each other, said data element including a field representing the one of said queues present in said memory member, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.