Operating system debugger
US4819234A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 1, 1987 |
| Grant date | Apr 4, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 1, 2007 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/362
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The invention is a debugger which is part of the operating system of a multi-programmable digital data processor with virtual memory. The debugger can identify and correct faults in an embedded operating system of a multi-programmable digital data processor having hardware-controlled process exchange. The debugger is capable of suspending and effectively restarting processes in a primary or second central processing unit, as well as selectively accessing, reading, and/or modifying data at real or virtual memory locations. Further, the debugger can look ahead, using a next instruction prediction function, and determine the location of the next-to-be executed instruction. The debugger can then replace the previous breakpoint with the instruction the break point had originally replaced, and put the breakpoint after the next-to-be executed instruction. The debugger is also capable of simulating the local execution of a replaced instruction and restarting suspended processes. In this way the debugger can be used in single-step fashion to cause process suspension after every instruction in a sequence of code.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.