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MicrosoftPatent applicationChips & hardwareInterest 4/10

Microsoft patents spare chips to fix hardware errors without touching data

Microsoft has filed a patent for a method that uses an idle processing core to detect and fix hardware faults in a computer system. Instead of running repair code on the chip that is failing, which might expose sensitive data, the system uses a separate, unused core to perform the necessary checks and corrections. This approach allows the hardware to self-repair while keeping the data on the affected core isolated and secure.

Why it mattersThis improves the reliability of secure computing systems by allowing hardware repairs to happen without compromising the privacy of sensitive data running on the affected processor.

In the filing’s own words

This document relates to utilizing spare cores to mitigate hardware failures on a computing device. For instance, in some cases, tenant workloads can have sensitive data that executes on a given core of a device. In some cases, a hardware fault in the system may occur that affects the core running the tenant workload, and there may be an action that can be taken in mitigation software or firmware to fix that hardware fault. However, because of the sensitivity of the data on the core experiencing the fault, it is not always possible to run the mitigation algorithms on the core that is affected by the fault. The disclosed implementations can utilize a spare core to execute a hardware mitigation algorithm on another core that can clear the fault, without accessing any sensitive data on the core that is affected by the fault.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: executing workloads on processing cores of a system, the workloads including a first workload that executes on a first processing core of the system and a second workload that executes on a second processing core of the system; selecting a third processing core of the system that is available to run a hardware mitigation algorithm; executing the hardware mitigation algorithm on the third processing core, the hardware mitigation algorithm comprising: detecting a hardware state of one or more hardware resources utilized by the first processing core and the second processing core; comparing the detected hardware state to one or more fault criteria for initiating a hardware mitigation action; and when the detected hardware state matches the one or more fault criteria, performing the hardware mitigation action by the third processing core, wherein the hardware mitigation action changes state of the one or more hardware resources.

Facts

Company
Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
Official title
USING SPARE CORES FOR MITIGATION OF HARDWARE PROBLEMS
Publication number
US20260267753A1
Application number
19073772
Filed
Mar 7, 2025
Published
Sep 10, 2026
Inventors
6
Claims
20

Classified under

G06F 11/2038 Physics & computingG06F 2201/805 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.