Realm Management Tree for Memory Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current memory access control techniques fail to effectively enforce ownership rights for memory regions across different software processes, leading to potential unauthorized access and data security breaches, particularly when data is exported or imported between memory regions.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of realm management circuitry and program logic that utilizes a realm management tree with variable length bit portions to index and manage ownership rights for memory regions, ensuring that only authorized realms can access specific memory data, even when data is transferred between different memory areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional privilege level-based memory access control is used, then implementation is simple, but ownership rights cannot be effectively enforced across different software processes
Solution Approach 1:
The memory address space is divided into multiple memory regions, each with a distinct owner realm. The realm management tree segments realm identifiers into multiple fields that can be independently indexed, allowing fine-grained control over which realms can access which memory regions while maintaining a structured organization that balances security with manageability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hierarchical realm management tree structure that adds a new dimension to memory access control. Instead of relying solely on traditional privilege levels, the system incorporates realm identifiers with multiple fields that can be indexed at different levels of the tree, creating a multi-dimensional control mechanism that enables effective ownership enforcement without linearly increasing complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If data is exported or imported between memory regions, then data sharing is enabled, but unauthorized access risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The realm management tree provides a feedback mechanism where realm identifiers are systematically checked against the tree structure during memory access operations. When data is exported or imported between memory regions, the multi-field realm identifiers enable verification of authorization at each level of the hierarchy, ensuring that only permitted realms can access the data while maintaining transfer capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The realm management tree acts as an intermediary structure between memory regions with different owner realms. During data export/import operations, the tree structure mediates access control by evaluating realm identifiers against the hierarchical structure, allowing authorized data sharing while blocking unauthorized access attempts without requiring direct trust between communicating realms.
3Adaptability or versatility
If realm identifiers have fixed length, then indexing is straightforward, but flexibility in managing different numbers of realms is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The realm identifier structure is designed to be dynamic rather than fixed. Each realm identifier comprises multiple fields that can be selectively used for indexing at different levels of the realm management tree. This dynamic structure allows the system to adapt to varying numbers of realms and changing organizational requirements without requiring a complete restructuring of the indexing mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter structure of realm identifiers from fixed-length to multi-field variable-length formats. By organizing realm identifiers into multiple indexable fields, the system can dynamically adjust which fields are used for indexing based on the specific organizational needs and the number of active realms, providing flexibility without proportionally increasing indexing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Memory access circuitry (26) enforces ownership rights for memory regions. A given memory region is associated with an owner realm specified from multiple realms, each realm corresponding to a portion of at least one software process executed by processing circuitry (8). The owner realm has a right to exclude other realms from accessing data within the memory region. Realm management circuitry (20) accesses a realm management tree storing realm management data for at least two realms in a tree structure having a variable number of levels. The realms are identified using a realm identifier which has a variable number of variable length bit portions each providing an index into a given level of the realm management tree.