Self-Initialized Host Cell Emulation for Instruction Set Translation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for emulating a guest processor architecture on a host processor with an incompatible instruction set architecture face challenges in efficiently translating and executing guest instructions, leading to performance overhead and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A novel mapping of guest cells to host cells, where each guest cell is associated with a corresponding host cell that executes a semantic routine to emulate the guest instruction, using an initialization routine and a common handler to determine and execute the appropriate semantic routine for the guest instruction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional instruction set translation methods are used to emulate guest processor instructions on a host processor with incompatible architecture, then guest programs can be executed, but performance overhead increases and execution speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-translates and patches guest instructions into host executable code before execution. The translation process occurs in advance during code preparation, converting guest instruction sequences into equivalent host processor instructions and storing them in a prepared code segment. This eliminates the need for real-time translation during execution, thereby reducing translation overhead time and improving guest instruction execution speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copied and adapted version of guest code that is compatible with the host processor architecture. By copying the guest instruction sequences and translating them into host-equivalent instructions, the system prepares executable code that can run directly on the host without requiring interpretation or dynamic translation during runtime, thus improving execution efficiency.
2Adaptability or versatility
If comprehensive instruction translation and emulation routines are implemented to ensure accurate guest processor emulation, then instruction compatibility is improved, but device complexity and code overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates the translation logic from the execution flow by pre-processing guest code into host-compatible instructions. The complex translation relationships between guest and host instruction sets are captured during the preparation phase, allowing the execution phase to use simple, direct host instructions. This extraction of translation complexity into a separate preparation stage reduces the complexity visible during runtime execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs instruction translation and compatibility adaptation in advance during code preparation, before the actual execution begins. By pre-translating guest instructions into equivalent host instructions and patching the code accordingly, the system resolves compatibility issues beforehand, simplifying the execution stage and reducing runtime complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If dynamic translation and execution methods are used to handle guest instructions, then flexibility in handling different instruction types is improved, but execution time and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs instruction translation and adaptation in advance during the code preparation phase, converting diverse guest instruction types into equivalent host instructions before execution. This pre-processing approach captures the flexibility needs during preparation while enabling efficient, direct execution of translated code, thereby eliminating dynamic translation overhead during runtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates copied versions of guest code that have been pre-adapted to host architecture requirements. By copying and pre-translating instruction sequences into host-equivalent forms, the system maintains the ability to handle various instruction types while eliminating the need for dynamic translation during execution, thus reducing processing time.
Data Source
AI summary
A plurality of Guest cells of Guest instructions are provided with corresponding Host cells for emulating Guest instructions, each Guest instruction having a Guest cell corresponding to a Host cell. Each of the Host cells are initialized with an initialization routine for discovering a corresponding semantic routine for emulating the Guest instruction. When an instruction is to be emulated for the first time, the initialization routine patches itself with the discovered semantic routine such that subsequent emulation of the Guest instruction can be directly performed.