PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To handle high contention locking in a multiprocessor computer system.;SOLUTION: The method organizes at least some of all the processors into a hierarchy and processes an interruptible lock in response to the hierarchy. The method utilizes two alternative methods of acquiring the lock, including a conditional lock acquisition primitive and an unconditional lock acquisition primitive (600), and an unconditional lock release primitive for releasing the lock from a particular processor. In order to prevent races between processors requesting a lock acquisition and a processor releasing the lock, a release flag is utilized. In order to ensure that the processor utilizing the unconditional lock acquisition primitive is granted the lock, a handoff flag is utilized. The lock primitive is utilized for an interruptible lock that determines lock selection among processors based upon a hierarchical position of the processor and the primitive utilized for lock selection.;COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT
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