Abstract: Modifications to existing computer hardware, compiler changes or source-to-source transforms performed during the software build process, and a collection of libraries and modifications to existing standard system software and libraries. The invention allows a program author to enforce various kinds of locality of causality in software to provide enforcement of boundaries for the following aspects of a computer program: control, space, time, modularity, reference, initialization, and mutability. Where these properties do not suffice to guarantee a property at static time, dynamic checks may be added and the constraints on control flow prevent such dynamic checks from being avoided by the program.

Abstract: A hardware-implemented method to support three desirable software properties: encapsulation, referential integrity/capabilities, and transactions. These properties in turn may be used to support software correctness, specifically the enforcement of invariants, and computer security, specifically protecting parts of programs from each other within a single process.

Abstract: A method providing simple fine-grain hardware primitives with which software engineers can efficiently implement enforceable separation of programs into modules and constraints on control flow, thereby providing fine-grain locality of causality to the world of software. Additionally, a mechanism is provided to mark some modules, or parts thereof, as having kernel privileges and thereby allows the provision of kernel services through normal function calls, obviating the expensive prior art mechanism of system calls. Together with software changes, Object Oriented encapsulation semantics and control flow integrity in hardware are enforced.

Abstract: A hardware-implemented method to support three desirable software properties: encapsulation, referential integrity/capabilities, and transactions. These properties in turn may be used to support software correctness, specifically the enforcement of invariants, and computer security, specifically protecting parts of programs from each other within a single process.

Abstract: A hardware-implemented method to support three desirable software properties: encapsulation, referential integrity/capabilities, and transactions. These properties in turn may be used to support software correctness, specifically the enforcement of invariants, and computer security, specifically protecting parts of programs from each other within a single process.

Abstract: A hardware-implemented method to support three desirable software properties: encapsulation, referential integrity/capabilities, and transactions. These properties in turn may be used to support software correctness, specifically the enforcement of invariants, and computer security, specifically protecting parts of programs from each other within a single process.

Abstract: A method providing simple fine-grain hardware primitives with which software engineers can efficiently implement enforceable separation of programs into modules and constraints on control flow, thereby providing fine-grain locality of causality to the world of software. Additionally, a mechanism is provided to mark some modules, or parts thereof, as having kernel privileges and thereby allows the provision of kernel services through normal function calls, obviating the expensive prior art mechanism of system calls. Together with software changes, Object Oriented encapsulation semantics and control flow integrity in hardware are enforced.

Abstract: In accordance with one embodiment, additions to the standard computer microprocessor architecture hardware are disclosed comprising novel page table entry fields 015 062, special registers 021 022, instructions for modifying these fields 120 122 and registers 124 126, and hardware-implemented 038 runtime checks and operations involving these fields and registers. More specifically, in the above embodiment of a Hard Object system, there is additional meta-data 061 in each page table entry beyond what it commonly holds, and each time a data load or store is issued from the CPU, and the virtual address 032 translated to the physical address 034, the Hard Object system uses its additional PTE meta-data 061 to perform memory access checks additional to those done in current systems. Together with changes to software, these access checks can be arranged carefully to provide more fine-grain access control for data than do current systems.

Abstract: A method providing simple fine-grain hardware primitives with which software engineers can efficiently implement enforceable separation of programs into modules and constraints on control flow, thereby providing fine-grain locality of causality to the world of software. Additionally, a mechanism is provided to mark some modules, or parts thereof, as having kernel privileges and thereby allows the provision of kernel services through normal function calls, obviating the expensive prior art mechanism of system calls. Together with software changes, Object Oriented encapsulation semantics and control flow integrity in hardware are enforced.

Abstract: In accordance with one embodiment, additions to the standard computer microprocessor architecture hardware are disclosed comprising novel page table entry fields 015 062, special registers 021 022, instructions for modifying these fields 120 122 and registers 124 126, and hardware-implemented 038 runtime checks and operations involving these fields and registers. More specifically, in the above embodiment of a Hard Object system, there is additional meta-data 061 in each page table entry beyond what it commonly holds, and each time a data load or store is issued from the CPU, and the virtual address 032 translated to the physical address 034, the Hard Object system uses its additional PTE meta-data 061 to perform memory access checks additional to those done in current systems. Together with changes to software, these access checks can be arranged carefully to provide more fine-grain access control for data than do current systems.