Patents by Inventor William L. Irwin, III

William L. Irwin, III has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Spinlock for shared memory
    Patent number: 6779090
    Abstract: A spin lock for shared memory is disclosed. A lock flag for a lock on a memory section is attempted to be set. If the lock flag is successfully set, the lock on the memory section is held so that the memory section may be processed. Upon being ready to release the lock on the memory section, and in response to determining that one or more units are spinning for the lock on the memory section, one of the spinning units is selected, and a spin flag for the selected unit is reset. If no units are spinning for the lock, however, the lock flag for the lock is reset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2004
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Paul E. McKenney, William L. Irwin, III, Swaminathan Sivasubramanian, John G. Stultz