Patent ID: 7269717
Filing Date: 2007-09-11
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method for executing a start transactional execution (STE) instruction to facilitate transactional execution on a processor, comprising: encountering the STE instruction during execution of a program, wherein the STE instruction marks the beginning of a block of instructions to be executed transactionally, and wherein the STE instruction specifies an action to take if transactional execution of the block of instructions fails, and wherein the action to take includes acquiring a lock on a block of instructions; executing the STE instruction prior to executing the block of instructions; and wherein executing the STE instruction involves commencing transactional execution of the block of instructions following the STE instruction; wherein changes made during the transactional execution are not committed to the architectural state of the processor until the transactional execution successfully completes.