International Business Machines Corporation

Bruce C Giamei

Mark S Farrell

Timothy John Slegel

Christian Jacobi

Fadi Y Busaba

Chung-Lung K Shum

Jonathan D Bradbury

Donald W Schmidt

Matthias Klein

Khary J Alexander

Martin Recktenwald

David S Hutton

Aditya Nitin Puranik

Timothy J Siegel

Anthony Saporito

Anthony Thomas Sofia

Christian Zoellin

Simon Weishaupt

Daniel V Rosa

Charles Franklin Webb

Brian William Curran

Eric M Schwarz

Louis P Gomes

Mark Anthony Check

Ashutosh Misra

Girish Gopala Kurup

John Stephen Liptay

Michael Billeci

Lisa Cranton Heller

Damian Leo Osisek

Elpida Tzortzatos

Gregory William Alexander

Christopher A Krygowski

Ute Gaertner

Scott Barnett Swaney

John G Rell, Jr

Edward Thomas Malley

Peter Jeremy Relson

David Andrew Schroter

James H Mulder

Christian Borntraeger

Christine M Yost

Ashutosh Mishra

James J Bonanno

Brian David Barrick

Lee Evan Eisen

Adam B Collura

Aaron Tsai

Reid T Copeland

Bernd Nerz

Petra Leber

Kerstin Claudia Schelm

Michael Klein

Wen H Li

Andreas Wagner

James R Mitchell

Jang-Soo Lee

Xin Guo

Lawrence Joseph Powell, Jr

George A Sai-Halasz

Mahmoud Amin

Vimal M Kapadia

Jeffrey S Plate

Fadi Y Basuba

Fadi Y Busada

An instruction to perform validity testing of a source value is executed. The executing the instruction includes obtaining the source value using at least one field of the instruction and obtaining a plurality of test controls using a field of the instruction. The one or more test controls of the plurality of test controls are used to specify which digit positions of the source value are to be tested for validity and what codes are valid codes for the digit positions specified to be tested. Validity testing of at least a portion of the source value is performed based on the plurality of test controls obtained using the field of the instruction, and the performing the validity testing provides a result. The result is provided for use in further processing.

Vector test decimal instruction for validity testing

Storage accesses for merge operations are minimized. A plurality of records of a plurality of input lists are merged. The merging includes determining that an input list of the plurality of input lists has become empty, and checking, based on determining that the input list has become empty, a control specific for the input list. The control is used to determine how to proceed, such as whether to end merging or continue merging.

Controlling storage accesses for merge operations

An instruction is provided to perform a reset address translation protection operation when executed. Executing the instruction includes determining, by a processor, that an address translation protection bit in a specified translation table entry associated with a storage block is to be reset. Based on determining that the address translation protection bit is to be reset, executing the instruction includes resetting the address translation protection bit to deactivate write protection for the storage block. The resetting is absent waiting for an action by one or more other processors of the computing environment.

Reset dynamic address translation protection instruction

Operating system deactivation of write protection for a storage block is provided absent quiescing of processors in a multi-processor computing environment. The process includes receiving an address translation protection exception interrupt resulting from an attempted write access by a processor to a storage block, and determining by the operating system whether write protection for the storage block is active. Based on write protection for the storage block not being active, the operating system issues an instruction to clear or modify translation lookaside buffer entries of the processor associated with the storage block, absent waiting for an action by another processor of multiple processors of the computing environment, to facilitate write access to the storage block proceeding at the processor.

Operating system deactivation of storage block write protection absent quiescing of processors

A method is provided that is executable by a processor of a computer. Note that the processor is communicatively coupled to a memory of the computer, and the memory stores a response block of a call command. In implementing the method, the processor defines a sub-functions field in the response block of the call command. Further the processor indicates that a set of functions of a set of instructions are installed and available at an interface based on a corresponding sub-functions flag within the sub-functions field being set. Note that the interface is also being executed on the computer and that the set of functions being represented by the corresponding sub-functions flag. The processor further indicates that the set of functions of the set of instructions are not installed based on the corresponding sub-functions flag not being set.

Extended asynchronous data mover functions compatibility indication

Processing of a storage operand request identified as restrained is selectively, temporarily suppressed. The processing includes identifying a storage operand request as restrained, where the identifying includes obtaining, by a processing unit, an access intent instruction indicating an access intent associated with an operand of a next sequential instruction. The access intent indicates usage of the storage operand request is restrained. Further, the method includes determining whether a storage operand request is to a common storage location shared by multiple processing units of a computing environment and is identified restrained, and based on determining that the storage operand request is restrained, then temporarily suppressing requesting access to the common storage location pursuant to the storage operand request.

Temporarily suppressing processing of a restrained storage operand request

A processor requests that a data transformation operation be performed using another processor, in which the data transformation operation is performed asynchronously. A determination is made that the data transformation operation performed using the other processor has completed unsatisfactorily, and based on the unsatisfactory completion, status relating to performance of the data transformation operation is incomplete. The data transformation operation is then re-executed synchronously using the one processor, and the re-executing provides status information unavailable in performing the data transformation operation asynchronously.

Synchronous re-execution of a data transformation operation to obtain further details regarding an exception

Saving and restoring machine state between multiple executions of an instruction. A determination is made that processing of an operation of an instruction executing on a processor has been interrupted prior to completion. Based on determining that the processing of the operation has been interrupted, current metadata of the processor is extracted. The metadata is stored in a location associated with the instruction and used to re-execute the instruction to resume forward processing of the instruction from where it was interrupted.

Saving and restoring machine state between multiple executions of an instruction

A system is provided and includes a plurality of machines. The plurality of machines includes a first generation machine and a second generation machine. Each of the plurality of machines includes a machine version. The first generation machine executes a first virtual machine and a virtual architecture level. The second generation machine executes a second virtual machine and the virtual architecture level. The virtual architecture level provides a compatibility level for a complex interruptible instruction to the first and second virtual machines. The compatibility level is architected for a lowest common denominator machine version across the plurality of machines. The compatibility level includes a lowest common denominator indicator identifying the lowest common denominator machine version.

Maintaining compatibility for complex functions over multiple machine generations

A Sort Lists instruction is provided to perform a sort and/or a merge operation. The instruction is an architected machine instruction of an instruction set architecture and is executed by a general-purpose processor of the computing environment. The executing includes sorting a plurality of input lists to obtain one or more sorted output lists, which are output.

Sort and merge instruction for a general-purpose processor

Detection of alteration of storage keys used to protect memory includes determining whether a storage key alteration event has occurred within a processor of a computing environment. The determining includes checking whether one or more selected fields of a storage key have been updated. The storage key is associated with a block of memory and controls access to the block of memory. Based on the checking indicating that the one or more selected fields of the storage key have been updated, a storage key alteration event has been detected. Based on determining the storage key alteration event has occurred, a notification is provided.

Detection of alteration of storage keys used to protect memory

A computer-implemented method for marking load and store instruction overlap in a processor pipeline is described. The method includes detecting a load instruction following a store instruction in an instruction stream. The load instruction and the store instruction include instruction text. The instruction text includes operand address information. The method includes comparing operand address information of the store instruction with operand address information of the load instruction to determine whether there is a memory image overlap in an issue queue between the operand address information of the store instruction and the load instruction. The method also includes delaying the load instruction in the processor pipeline in response to determining that there is a memory image overlap.

Comparing load instruction address fields to store instruction address fields in a table to delay issuing dependent load instructions

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a DEFLATE compression accelerator and to a method for verifying the correctness of the DEFLATE compression accelerator. The accelerator includes an input buffer and a Lempel-Ziv 77 (LZ77) compressor communicatively coupled to an output of the input buffer. A switch is communicatively coupled to the output of the input buffer and to the output of the LZ77 compressor. The switch is configured to bypass the LZ77 compressor during a compression test. The accelerator further includes a deflate Huffman encoder communicatively coupled to an output of the switch and an output buffer communicatively coupled to the deflate Huffman encoder. When the switch is not bypassed, the compressor can be modified to produce repeatable results.

Verifying the correctness of a deflate compression accelerator

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Poughkeepsie, NY, United States of America

Bruce C Giamei