Multi-view memory to support OS locking for transaction systems

The focus of this paper is to investigate the use of the multi-view memory (MVM) model and its supporting architecture in providing efficient locking services for transaction processing systems. The model provides for enforcement of access control protocols through FSM specification on units of data that can vary in size from one region of memory to another. Threads executing transactions do not explicitly request locks on data items-they simply access the data items while locking is performed automatically and in many instances without software intervention. This is facilitated by hardware assistance in that the FSM definitions and lock unit state information is stored in caches. Only when a thread is suspended are the state changes communicated to the software lock manager. Delays for lock acquisitions through the MVM model architecture are determined and compared to delays due to lock acquisition by a conventional lock manager