Code Tracing Processor Selection for Legacy Hardware Compatibility
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Software applications written in older programming languages may not be compatible with newly developed computing hardware, requiring significant resource investment to rewrite code for compatibility, especially for large software systems.
Innovation Solution
Systems and methods that trace requests benefiting from execution on non-compatible hardware, record these requests, and execute corresponding code on that hardware, reducing the need for extensive rewriting by reusing previously identified executable code.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If software is rewritten in a new programming language to be compatible with new hardware, then hardware compatibility is improved, but development time and resource investment increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a compiler as an intermediary tool that translates old programming language code into new programming language code. This mediator enables compatibility between legacy software and new hardware without requiring manual rewriting, thus resolving the contradiction by maintaining adaptability while minimizing time investment through automated translation
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of the legacy codebase to identify portions that would benefit from execution on new hardware. By pre-processing and categorizing code before full translation or execution, the system prepares the software architecture in advance, reducing the overall time required for compatibility adaptation
2Loss of time
If legacy code is translated to a new programming language using automated tools, then development time is reduced, but translation accuracy and code quality may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the legacy codebase into distinct segments or modules that can be translated and processed independently. This segmentation allows for more precise control over translation accuracy in each module, enabling quality verification and correction without reprocessing the entire codebase, thus maintaining precision while benefiting from automated translation speed
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where translated code is analyzed and verified against expected behavior and performance criteria. This feedback loop allows for automatic correction of translation errors and ensures that code quality standards are maintained, resolving the contradiction between speed and precision
3Ease of manufacture
If existing software is executed on new hardware without modification, then resource investment is minimized, but performance optimization opportunities are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a dynamic execution environment where the system can selectively execute different portions of code on different hardware platforms. By dynamically determining which code segments to run on new hardware versus old hardware, the system optimizes performance for specific tasks while minimizing overall resource investment, resolving the contradiction between ease of deployment and performance
Data Source
AI summary
A system for tracing operations during application execution and executing the traced operations on a second processing unit. The tracing involves identifying attempts to execute software that performs particular functions that would benefit from execution on a particular piece of non-compatible hardware and, rather than executing the code, recording the requests and the data inputs to each of the requests. At a point during execution of the software system such as, for example, when either a memory threshold has been exceeded for recording the requested code and inputs, or results are needed for the requested code, the corresponding code executable on the non-compatible hardware is identified and executed. Thereafter, the results from the execution on the non-compatible hardware are received and processing continues.