Method and apparatus for speculatively locking objects in an object-based system

An object-based computing system which includes a speculative owner thread and an object, the speculative owner thread having an associated stack, the objectbased computing system comprising:

• a processor;
• a first determinator coupled to the processor, the first determinator being arranged to determine when a first bit associated with the object is set to indicate that the object is associated with the speculative owner thread, the speculative owner thread having use of the object, wherein the object is not locked by the speculative owner thread;
• a checking mechanism coupled to the processor, the checking mechanism being arranged to check a stored identifier, the stored identifier being associated with the object, the stored identifier being arranged to identify the speculative owner thread;
• a second determinator coupled to the processor, the second determinator being arranged to determine whether the stored identifier identifies the current thread, wherein when the stored identifier identifies the current thread, the current thread already has use of the object;
• and
• a locking mechanism coupled to the processor, the locking mechanism being arranged to lock the object with respect to the speculative owner thread when it is determined that the stored identifier does not identify the first thread.

A computer program product for acquiring use of an object using a current thread, the computer program product comprising:

• computer code for determining when a first bit associated with the object is set to indicate that the object is associated with a speculative owner thread, the speculative owner thread having use of the object, wherein the object is not locked by the speculative owner thread;
• computer code for checking a stored identifier, the stored identifier being associated with the object, the stored identifier being arranged to identify the speculative owner thread;
• computer code for determining whether the stored identifier identifies the current thread, wherein when the stored identifier identifies the current thread, the current thread already has use of the object;
• computer code for locking the object with respect to the speculative owner thread when it is determined that the stored identifier does not identify the first thread;
• and
• a computer-readable medium that stores the computer codes.

A threaded computer system comprising:

• a processor;
• a first thread;
• an assigner for assigning non-locked ownership of an object to the first thread, wherein assigning non-locked ownership of the object to the first thread enables the first thread to operate on the object without possessing an ownership lock associated with the object;
• and
• a second thread, the second thread being arranged to attempt to obtain the ownership lock associated with the object, wherein when the second thread attempts to obtain the ownership lock associated with the object, the first thread is caused to acquire possession of the ownership lock.