Patent · US Active

Method for simulating back program execution from a traceback sequence

US7543279B2 · kind B2 · utility

8Cited by
19References
33Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 25, 2004
Grant dateJun 2, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 8, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F11/3624
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A program execution data trace is created by instrumenting a program to record value sets during execution and an instruction trace. By simulating instructions either backward or forward from a first instruction associated with a recorded value set to a second instruction according to the instruction trace, a value set is determined for the second instruction. Backward and forward simulation can be combined to complement each other. For backward simulation, a table of simulation instructions is preferably maintained, which associates program instructions encountered in the instruction trace with simulation instructions which reverse the operation of the associated program instructions. Preferably, one or more probes is inserted into the program to save values of particular variables whose value may be difficult to determine. Preferably, the instruction trace is displayed alongside and correlated with the data trace.

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