Virtualization system including a virtual machine monitor for a computer with a segmented architecture
US6397242B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 26, 1998 |
| Grant date | May 28, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 26, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/45533
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In a computer that has hardware processor, and a memory, the invention provides a virtual machine monitor (VMM) and a virtual machine (VM) that has at least one virtual processor and is operatively connected to the VMM for running a sequence of VM instructions, which are either directly executable or non-directly executable. The VMM includes both a binary translation sub-system and a direct execution sub-system, as well as a sub-system that determines if VM instructions must be executed using binary translation, or if they can be executed using direct execution. Shadow descriptor tables in the VMM, corresponding to VM descriptor tables, segment tracking and memory tracing are used as factors in the decision of which execution mode to activate. The invention is particularly well-adapted for virtualizing computers in which the hardware processor has an Intel x86 architecture.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.