Patent ID: 10795718

Abstract:
A technique is described herein for updating the logic used by a hardware accelerator provided by a computing device. In one implementation, the technique provides a pass-through mode which allows a virtual machine (provided by the computing device) to directly interact with the hardware accelerator. Upon the commencement of an updating operation, the technique instructs an emulator to begin emulating the function(s) of the hardware accelerator and the resultant effects of these functions, without interaction with the actual hardware accelerator. When the updating operation finishes, the technique re-enables the pass-through mode. By virtue of the above-summarized manner of operation, the technique allows the computing device to perform the function(s) associated with the hardware accelerator while the hardware accelerator is being updated. In one case, the technique disables the pass-through mode by modifying address-mapping information used by the virtual machine to access system physical addresses.