Partial evaluation of machine code

This paper presents an algorithm for off-line partial evaluation of machine code. The algorithm follows the classical two-phase approach of binding-time analysis (BTA) followed by specialization. However, machine-code partial evaluation presents a number of new challenges, and it was necessary to devise new techniques for use in each phase. • Our BTA algorithm makes use of an instruction-rewriting method that “decouples” multiple updates performed by a single instruction. This method counters the cascading imprecision that would otherwise occur with a more na¨ıve approach to BTA. • Our specializer specializes an explicit representation of the semantics of an instruction, and emits residual code via machine-code synthesis. Moreover, to create code that allows the stack and heap to be at different positions at run-time than at specialization-time, the specializer represents specialization-time addresses using symbolic constants, and uses a symbolic state for specialization. Ou...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2015
• Where: OOPSLA
• Authors: Venkatesh Srinivasan, Thomas W. Reps
• Keywords: OOPSLA 2015, Security Privacy