Hybrid binaries supporting code stream folding

US11042422B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC · US

Inventors

• Pavlo Lebedynskiy · Sammamish, US
• Pedro Miguel Sequeira De Justo Teixeira · Kirkland, US
• Darek Mihocka · Mercer Island, US
• Jon Robert Berry · Woodinville, US
• Clarence Siu Yeen Dang · Newcastle, US
• Tiansheng Tan · Redmond, US
• James D. Cleary · Seattle, US
• Yongkang Zhu · Bothell, US
• Theodore Maxwell Thomas · Redmond, US
• Ben Niu · Thornhill, CA
• Russell Charles Hadley · Bellevue, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 31, 2020
• Grant date: Jun 22, 2021
• Expiry date: Aug 31, 2040

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06F8/4434
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A hybrid binary executable under both native processes and compatibility (e.g., emulated) processes. When the hybrid binary is loaded by a native process, the process executes a native code stream contained in the binary directly on a processor. When the hybrid binary is loaded by a compatibility process, the process executes an emulation-compatible (EC) code stream directly on a processor. When executing in a compatibility process, the EC code stream can interact with a foreign code stream that executes in an emulator. The foreign code stream can be included in the hybrid binary itself, or can be external to the hybrid binary. The hybrid binary format supports folding of code between the native code stream and the EC code stream. The hybrid binary comprises a set of memory transformations which are applied to image data obtained from the binary when the hybrid binary executes under the compatibility process.