AN APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING CAPABILITY METADATA

Apparatus comprising cache storage and a method of operating such a cache storage are provided. Data blocks in the cache storage have capability metadata stored in association therewith identifying whether the data block specifies a capability or a data value. At least one type of capability is a bo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors BARNES, Graeme Peter, BILES, Stuart David
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
French
German
Published 01.12.2021
Subjects
CALCULATING
COMPUTING
COUNTING
ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
PHYSICS
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Summary:Apparatus comprising cache storage and a method of operating such a cache storage are provided. Data blocks in the cache storage have capability metadata stored in association therewith identifying whether the data block specifies a capability or a data value. At least one type of capability is a bounded pointer. Responsive to a write to a data block in the cache storage a capability metadata modification marker is set in association with the data block, indicative of whether the capability metadata associated with the data block has changed since the data block was stored in the cache storage. This supports the security of the system, such that modification of the use of a data block from a data value to a capability cannot take place unless intended. Efficiencies may also result when capability metadata is stored separately from other data in memory, as fewer accesses to memory can be made.
Bibliography:Application Number: EP20180721116