Emulation of asynchronous signals using a branch mechanism
US5764962A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 31, 1996 |
| Grant date | Jun 9, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 31, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/45504
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method facilitates transfer of control from normal emulation in an emulation system to an asynchronous signal handler in the emulation system. A branch-target register is globally allocated with an address used to transfer control to the asynchronous signal handler. A predicate register is globally allocated to serve as a Boolean flag. Within each of a plurality of blocks of code within the emulation system there is placed a transfer of control operation. The transfer of control operation uses as a predicate the globally allocated predicate register. The transfer of control operation branches to an address stored in the globally allocated branch-target register. Where allowed in the architecture, a prefetch hint for the transfer of control operation can indicate the control operation is not to be prefetched. The control operation is placed in the block of code a point at which state may be recovered, generally at the end of the block of code.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.