System Management Interrupt Regulation via Counter Thresholds

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Solution Overview

Problem

Excessive system management interrupts (SMIs) can significantly impact the computational performance of information handling systems, potentially due to malicious activities or faulty software, and existing techniques lack effective regulation mechanisms to manage these interrupts.

Innovation Solution

A method that involves saving state information upon receiving an SMI, determining the associated function and calling address, incrementing counters for the function and address pair, and selectively invoking the function based on predetermined threshold values to regulate SMI function invocation, using counters and a cool-down timer to manage and control SMI events.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If system management interrupts are allowed to execute freely, then system responsiveness and management capability are maintained, but computational performance degrades due to excessive SMIs

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem management capabilityVSAvoidcomputational performance

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by pre-establishing counter mechanisms and threshold values for different SMI functions before excessive interrupts occur. The system proactively monitors and counts SMI events, and preemptively blocks function execution when thresholds are reached, preventing performance degradation before it happens rather than reacting after the damage is done.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If all SMI function calls are executed, then system management tasks are completed, but malicious or faulty software can cause excessive interrupts and system instability

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem management flexibilityVSAvoidmalicious activity impact

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces counter mechanisms and threshold-based control as an intermediary layer between SMI events and function execution. This intermediary monitors the frequency and type of SMI calls, compares them against predetermined thresholds, and selectively permits or blocks execution accordingly, thus mediating between legitimate management needs and malicious interrupt floods.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring SMI event counts through counter mechanisms and using this information to dynamically control function execution. When counter values exceed thresholds, the system feedbacks this information back to the interrupt handling logic to block further execution, creating a closed-loop control system that adapts to interrupt patterns.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS11068302B2Method for regulating system management mode function calls and system therefor

Publication Date: 2021.07.20 DELL PROD LP

AI summary

A method includes saving state information in response to receiving a system management interrupt (SMI), the state information including a first value retrieved from a first register and a second value retrieved from a second register. The method further includes determining a function associated with the SMI based on the first value and determining a calling address associated with the SMI based on the second value. A counter corresponding to the function and calling address pair is incremented in response to receiving the SMI. The method concludes by selectively invoking the function based on the value of the counter and based on a predetermined threshold.