1. An apparatus comprising: an execution circuit to receive and execute a thread of instructions, wherein the execution circuit transmits a semaphore request message and places the thread in an inactive state in response to the thread of instructions requiring a resource having an associated semaphore; and a semaphore entity coupled with the execution circuit to receive the semaphore request message from the execution circuit and to selectively grant control of the semaphore in response to the semaphore request message by transmitting a semaphore acknowledge message to the execution circuitry, wherein the execution circuitry, in response to receiving the semaphore acknowledge message, removes the thread of instructions from the inactive state, grants the resource to the thread when the resource becomes available, and resumes execution of the thread of instructions including accessing the resource associated with the semaphore.