EFFICIENT HANDLING OF INTERRUPTS IN A COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT

摘要

A method for efficiently handling interrupts in a virtual technology environment with integrity services is provided. The method comprises assigning an interrupt to a virtual machine that is running a software agent; suspending the software agent; invoking a protected interrupt handler; copying the interrupt's memory content to a protected location, in response to successfully verifying the integrity of the content; replacing the interrupt's return address with a return address for a protected function; switching from the software agent's protected context to its active context; executing the original interrupt handler; returning control to the protected function to ensure that execution of the software agent resumes safely; switching back to the software agent's protected context, in response to successfully verifying the integrity of the content; and passing control back to the software agent to resume execution.