Patent ID: 7444636

Claim:
A method comprising: determining, by a first program, an attribute of a first functional unit by referencing a virtual memory address, the first functional unit comprising a first processor, a first page table, and a random access memory (RAM) coupled to the first processor in a computer system, and the first program executing in the first functional unit; determining, by a second program, an attribute of a second functional unit by referencing the virtual memory address, the second functional unit comprising a second processor, a second page table, and a RAM coupled to the second processor in the computer system, and the second program executing in the second functional unit; wherein the referencing the virtual memory address by the first program provides a pointer to an attribute stored in the RAM of the first functional unit, and wherein the referencing the virtual memory address by the second program provides a pointer to an attribute stored in the RAM of the second functional unit and the pointer and the attribute of the second functional unit are different than the pointer and attribute of the first functional unit; and wherein the first and second page tables each translate the virtual memory address to different physical addresses; saving a replicated portion of an operating system program and the attribute of the first functional unit to a read-only portion of the RAM of the first functional unit; and saving a replicated portion of an operating system program and the attribute of the second functional unit to a read-only portion of the RAM of the second functional unit, wherein the first and second page tables each translate a second virtual memory address to a same physical address.