Patent · US Expired

Object-oriented processor and method for caching intermediate data in an object-oriented processor

US6122638A · kind A · utility

33Cited by
11References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 26, 1997
Grant dateSep 19, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 26, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99945
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An object-oriented processor and method of operating such a processor are disclosed. According to the method, in response to receiving a first instruction that references a first object having both data and at least a first method associated therewith, an address of the first method is calculated. In addition, at least one pointer is cached that indicates (possibly together with other pointers) the address of the first method. In response to receipt of a subsequent second instruction that references a second object having both data and one or more methods associated therewith, where the one or more methods include the first method, the address of a second method associated with the second object is determined by reference to the cached pointer. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first and second methods comprise the same method, and the cached pointer indicates the entry point of that single method.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.