DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING LOAD-EXCLUSIVE AND STORE-EXCLUSIVE OPERATIONS

A data processing apparatus is provided in which a processor unit accesses data values stored in a memory and a cache stores local copies of a subset of the data values. The cache maintains a status value for each local copy stored in the cache. When the processor unit executes a load-exclusive operation, a first data value is loaded from a specified memory location and an exclusive use monitor begins monitoring the specified memory location for accesses. When the processor unit executes a store-exclusive operation, a second data value is stored to the specified memory location if the exclusive use monitor indicates that the first data value has not been modified since the load-exclusive operation was executed. When a local copy of the first data value is stored in the cache and the status value for the local copy of the first data value indicates that the processor unit has exclusive usage of the first data value, the data processing apparatus is configured to prevent modification of the status value for a predetermined time period after the processor unit has executed the load-exclusive operation.