Virtualization exceptions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9563455-B2
Application number	US-201314064759-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 28, 2013
Priority date	Oct 28, 2013
Publication date	Feb 7, 2017
Grant date	Feb 7, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments of an invention for virtualization exceptions are disclosed. In one embodiment, a processor includes instruction hardware, control logic, and execution hardware. The instruction hardware is to receive a plurality of instructions, including an instruction to enter a virtual machine. The control logic is to determine, in response to a privileged event occurring within the virtual machine, whether to generate a virtualization exception. The execution hardware is to generate a virtualization exception in response to the control logic determining to generate a virtualization exception.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A processor comprising:
instruction hardware to receive a plurality of instructions, including an instruction to enter a virtual machine;
control logic to determine, in response to a first exception occurring within the virtual machine operating according to a first configuration of a virtual machine control structure, to cause an exit from the virtual machine to a virtual machine monitor outside the virtual machine, and to determine, in response to the first exception occuring within the virtual machine operating according to a second configuration of the virtual machine control structure, to generate a second exception instead of an exit from the virtual machine; and
execution hardware to generate the second exception in response to the control logic determining to generate the second exception and to respond to the second exception with a transfer of execution control within the virtual machine.

2. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the control logic is to determine whether to generate the second exception based, at least in part, on one or more fine-grained controls.

3. The processor of claim 2 , wherein the one or more fine-grained controls include one or more controls in one or more of an extended page table and an extended page table directory.

4. The processor of claim 1 , wherein in response to the control logic determining to generate the second exception, the execution hardware is also to select a descriptor, from an interrupt-descriptor table, based on a vector number associated with the second exception.

5. The processor of claim 1 , wherein in response to the control logic determining to generate the second exception, the execution hardware is also to save virtualization exception handling information.

6. A system comprising:
a memory in which to store a virtual machine control structure; and
a processor including
instruction hardware to receive a plurality of instructions, including an instruction to enter a virtual machine;
control logic to determine, in response to a first exception occurring within the virtual machine operating according to a first configuration of the virtual machine control structure, to cause an exit from the virtual machine to a virtual machine monitor outside the virtual machine, and to determine, in response to the first exception occuring within the virtual machine operating according to a second configuration of the virtual machine control structure, to generate a second exception instead of an exit from the virtual machine; and
execution hardware to generate the second exception in response to the control logic determining to generate the second exception and to respond to the second exception with a transfer of execution control within the virtual machine.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Neiger Gilbert
• Bomb Mayank
• Castelino Manohar
• Chappell Robert
• Durham David
• Huntley Barry
• Ivanov Anton
• Parthasarathy Madhavan
• Rodgers Scott
• Sahita Ravi
• Shanbhogue Vedvyas

Classifications

• G06F9/45533 Primary

  Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors · CPC title

• G06F9/4812

  by interrupt, e.g. masked · CPC title

• G06F9/4555 Primary

  Para-virtualisation, i.e. guest operating system has to be modified · CPC title

• G06F9/30076

  to perform miscellaneous control operations, e.g. NOP · CPC title

• G06F2009/45583

  Memory management, e.g. access or allocation · CPC title