Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Christopher Martin McKinsey

Arun Upadhyaya Kishan

Ten H Tzen

Pedro Miguel Sequeira De Justo Teixeira

Youssef M Barakat

Terry Jack Mahaffey

Henry Morgan

YongKang Zhu

Louis Lafreniere

Marko Radmilac

Charles L Mitchell

Andrew Edward Ayers

During source code compilation to a first processor instruction set architecture (ISA), a compiler encounters a memory ordering constraint specified in the source code. The compiler generates binary emulation metadata that is usable during emulation of emitted machine code instructions of the first ISA, in order to enforce the memory ordering constraint within corresponding machine code instructions of a second ISA. An emulator utilizes this binary emulation metadata during emulation of a resulting executable image at a processor implementing the second ISA. When the emulator encounters a machine code instruction in the image that performs a memory operation, it identifies an instruction memory address corresponding to the instruction. The emulator determines whether the binary emulation metadata identifies the instruction memory address as being associated with a memory ordering constraint. If so, the emulator emits machine code instruction(s) in the second ISA that perform the memory operation using a memory barrier.

Memory ordering annotations for binary emulation

Annotation of exception information in a computer program. This annotation is not present in the source code itself, but is annotated during the compilation process or perhaps for purpose of analyzing the code. To perform the annotation, environmental rules are accessed regarding the environment in which the program is to be executed. The program is then evaluated in the context of these environmental rules to detect portions that, in the context of the environmental rules, may cause exceptions to be thrown. Those portions may then be annotated with exception information that describes any exceptions that could be thrown at that detected portion.

Annotating exception information in a computer program

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Christopher Martin McKinsey