Fault handling in a data processing system utilizing a fault vector pointer table
US6697959B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 20, 2000 |
| Grant date | Feb 24, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 15, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2209/481
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A fault number is utilized by microcode fault handling to index into a fault array pointer table containing a plurality of pointers to entry descriptors describing fault handling routines. The pointer resulting from the indexing is utilized to retrieve an entry descriptor. The entry descriptor is verified and if valid, is utilized to setup the environment for the appropriate fault handling routine and to enter such. The fault array pointer table is located in a reserved memory that cannot be overwritten by I/O. During the boot process, the fault array pointer table entries, along with a fault-on-fault pointer are updated to point at entry descriptors stored in the reserved memory. Additionally, the fault-on-fault entry descriptor that rebuilds the processor environment if necessary from information in reserved memory.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.