Deterministic Trace Abstraction for Dynamic Program Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tracing technologies face high overhead in data collection and storage, are typically slow, and require extensive instrumentation coding, limiting their ability to capture and analyze program execution details effectively.
Innovation Solution
A deterministic trace abstraction using record-replay technology captures minimal data for reproduction, allowing on-demand querying of execution information through a user-friendly API, reducing the need for explicit data capture and enabling flexible dynamic program analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional execution tracing is used to capture detailed program execution information, then comprehensive execution data is obtained, but the overhead for data collection and storage becomes very large
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential execution information needed for deterministic replay, separating critical data (program counters, memory states, I/O operations) from unnecessary detailed trace information. This extraction approach captures sufficient execution data while significantly reducing storage overhead compared to traditional comprehensive tracing methods.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of capturing all execution details and then filtering, the patent inverts the approach by determining beforehand exactly what minimal data is needed for deterministic replay and capturing only that. This inversion from comprehensive-capture-then-filter to minimal-capture-directly achieves both data sufficiency and storage efficiency.
2Loss of information
If comprehensive execution tracing is implemented to capture all program details, then complete execution information is available, but the tracing speed becomes slow
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the critical execution events necessary for deterministic replay (instruction executions, memory accesses, I/O operations) while excluding redundant detailed information. This selective extraction maintains execution detail completeness for replay purposes while significantly improving tracing speed by reducing processing overhead.
3Adaptability or versatility
If instrumentation programs are coded in advance to monitor specific execution properties, then targeted trace information is captured, but the device complexity and coding effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal deterministic replay framework that can capture multiple types of execution information (control flow, data flow, memory operations, I/O) through a single unified instrumentation approach. This universal system eliminates the need for separate instrumentation codes for different trace types, reducing coding complexity while maintaining adaptability to various analysis needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The deterministic replay system automatically identifies and captures relevant execution information without requiring manual instrumentation configuration. The system self-adapts to the target program's execution characteristics, automatically determining what data to capture based on the program's actual runtime behavior rather than pre-defined instrumentation templates.
4Reliability
If all program instructions are monitored by instrumentation programs, then complete execution monitoring is achieved, but the overhead for each instruction execution increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential execution events needed for deterministic replay (instruction boundaries, memory access points, I/O operations) while skipping redundant intermediate execution details. This extraction maintains monitoring reliability for replay accuracy while improving instruction execution efficiency by minimizing overhead at each instruction.
5Device complexity
If trace information is captured once per execution, then the tracing process is simple, but the ability to perform multiple analyses on the same execution data is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a deterministic replayable copy of the execution that can be replayed multiple times for different analyses. Instead of capturing data once and limiting analysis to that single capture, the system records sufficient information to reconstruct the execution state, allowing unlimited replay and analysis from the same original execution data without additional instrumentation overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual machine that includes a plurality of processes executes on a computer processor. A record-replay file, trace annotations, and an application program interface request are received into the computer processor. The trace annotations and application program interface request are translated into record-replay commands. The record-replay commands capture data from the record-replay file, and the captured data can be accessed via a programmatic interface.