The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 08, 2022
Filed:
Dec. 14, 2016
Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc, Redmond, WA (US);
Mallik Bulusu, Bellevue, WA (US);
Bryan Kelly, Carnation, WA (US);
Tom Long Nguyen, Auburn, WA (US);
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
Technologies are described which permit kernel updates or firmware fixes, and include re-initialization of kernel data structures, without losing user context information that has been created by services, virtual machines, or user applications. Tailored code in a server or other computing system sets a kernel soft reset (KSR) indicator and saves the user context to non-volatile storage. When a KSR is underway, boot code skips the power on self-test and similar initializations (thereby reducing downtime), loads a kernel image, initializes kernel data structures, restores the user context, and passes control to the initialized kernel to continue computing system operation with the same user context. Device drivers may also be re-initialized. The loaded kernel may use newly fixed firmware, or may have a security patch installed, for instance. The non-volatile storage may operate at RAM speed, e.g., it may include NVDIMM memory. The kernel may be validated before receiving control.