Patent · US Active

Robust and high performance instructions for system call

US9207940B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
0References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 15, 2013
Grant dateDec 8, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 30, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2209/521
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Robust system call and system return instructions are executed by a processor to transfer control between a requester and an operating system kernel. The processor includes execution circuitry and registers that store pointers to data structures in memory. The execution circuitry receives a system call instruction from a requester to transfer control from a first privilege level of the requester to a second privilege level of an operating system kernel. In response, the execution circuitry swaps the data structures that are pointed to by the registers between the requester and the operating system kernel in one atomic transition.

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