Patent ID: 7624242
Filing Date: 2009-11-24
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. An apparatus comprising: a memory identifier storage to store memory identifiers associated with protected components, the memory identifiers including exclusive memory identifiers and shared memory identifiers, the memory identifier storage being protected from access by a host operating system, the memory identifier storage comprising: a per-page memory identifier table (PMT) to store memory identifiers associated with physical memory pages, an exclusive memory identifier book-keeping memory to maintain state information for each of the exclusive memory identifiers, and a shared memory identifier book-keeping memory to store access control information and credential requirements for the shared memory identifiers; a memory identifier management service (MMS) coupled to the memory identifier storage to manage the memory identifiers, the MMS residing in a protected environment, the MMS comprising: a registration agent to assign an exclusive memory identifier to a registering component and to assign a shared memory identifier to a registered component upon receiving a request having a unique name and credential requirements from the registered component, and a shared access processor coupled to the registration agent to process a request from a requestor to access the shared memory identifier using name and credentials provided by the requestor; and an access control enforcer (ACE) coupled to the MMS and the memory identifier storage to enforce an access control policy with the memory identifiers.