Instruction encoding to indicate whether to store argument registers as static registers and return address in subroutine stack
US7739484B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 5, 2007 |
| Grant date | Jun 15, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 5, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/4486
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus provide means for saving and restoring processor register values and allocating and deallocating stack memory. A first field of a save instruction encodes whether a value in a register of a processor is saved as a static value. A second field of the save instruction encodes whether a value in a register of a processor is saved as an argument value. A third field of the save instruction encodes a size of a stack frame created during execution of the save instruction. An argument value is saved in a calling program's stack frame. A static value is saved in a called program's stack frame. A restore instruction is used to restore static values and deallocate the stack frame. The save and restore instructions may be executed using any programmable device, including a single instruction set architecture processor or a multi-instruction set architecture processor.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.