MindShare - x86 Architecture Programming (Training)

x86 Architecture Programming

Training

Books

Training

Let MindShare Bring "Hands-On x86 Architecture" to Life for You

This course teaches the x86 architecture (both 32-bit and 64-bit) through a mix of lectures and hands-on programming labs. All topics are explained in lecture format first and then the students are given programming labs in Assembly Language to reinforce the concepts and to get hands-on experience working with x86 processors at a very low level.

MindShare Courses On the x86 Architecture:

Course Name	Classroom	Virtual Classroom	eLearning
Hands-On Intel 32/64-bit x86 Architecture	5 days	5 days	Show Me
Fundamentals of Intel 32/64-bit x86 Architecture	1 day	1 day
Hands-On x86 Assembly Language Basics	4 days

All of MindShare's classroom and virtual classroom courses can be customized to fit the needs of your group.

Hands-On Intel 32/64-bit x86 Architecture Course Info

You Will Learn:

x86 architecture basics like an overview of the instruction set, register set and operating modes
The behavior of segmentation, how it was originally intended to be used and how it is actually used by operating systems today (both 32-bit and 64-bit OSs)
How to setup system calls using multiple methods (and what are benefits / side-effects of each)
How to setup interrupt service routines for both software and hardware interrupts as well as exceptions
How to implement paging in both the 32-bit environments as well as the 64-bit environments including using various page sizes
What the concepts of virtualization are and the behavior of the x86 hardware extensions for virtualization (including benefits and side-effects)

Course Length: 5 Days (but can be customized to your needs / duration)

Course Outline:

x86 Instruction Set Background
Intro to the Instruction Set
- General Purpose Instructions
- Floating Point and SIMD Instructions
  - x87, MMX, SSE, AVX
- Program Flow-related Instructions
- Hardware-Related Instructions
Intro to the Register Set and Address Spaces
- General Purpose registers (GPRs)
- x87 / MMX registers
- XMM / YMM registers
- Segmentation registers
- Control registers
- Debug registers
- Model-Specific registers (MSRs)
- Memory, IO, and Configuration Spaces
Operating Modes
- Real Mode
- Protected Mode
- Virtual-8086 Mode
- System Management Mode
- Long (IA32e) Mode
  - 64-bit Mode
    - REX prefixes
  - Compatibility Mode
Real Mode Operation
Introduction to Multitasking
Segmentation (Protected Mode)
- Privilege Levels (Rings)
- Code and Data Segment Descriptors
- Segment Registers (CS, SS, DS, ES, FS, GS)
- Global Descriptor Table (GDT)
- Local Descriptor Table (LDT)
- Flat memory model vs protected memory model
- HANDS-ON LAB: covering Protected Mode Segmentation
- Segmentation in Long Mode
Control Transfers
- Far Jumps and Calls
- Call Gates
- Optimized System Calls
  - SYSCALL / SYSRET
  - SYSENTER / SYSEXIT
- Automatic Stack Switching
- HANDS-ON LAB: covering system calls
- Control Transfers in Long Mode
Task Management
- Software vs. Hardware task switching
- Task State Segments (TSS)
- Task Gates
Interrupts and Exceptions
- Hardware vs. Software interrupts
- Vectors
- Interrupt priorities
- Exceptions and their classifications (faults, traps and aborts)
- Interrupt Descriptor Table (IDT)
- Interrupt Gates vs Trap Gates
- Stack behavior on an interrupt / exception
  - Error codes
- HANDS-ON LAB: covering interrupt handling
- Interrupt handling in Long Mode
Paging
- Purpose of Paging
- Paging Basics
  - Physical vs. Virtual (Linear) Address Space
  - Swap space (secondary storage)
  - x86 paging structures
    - Page Directory Entries (PDEs)
    - Page Table Entries (PTEs)
- TLBs (Translation Lookaside Buffers)
  - Managing TLBs
  - Global pages
- x86 Paging Modes (features)
  - Page Size Extensions (PSE)
  - Physical Address Extensions (PAE)
    - 3-level lookup: Page Directory Pointer Entries (PDPE)
  - IA32e (Long) Mode Paging
    - 4-level lookup: Page Map Level 4 Entries (PML4E)
  - Execute Disable functionality
- HANDS-ON LAB: covering paging
Memory Types
- Intro to Caches
- Memory Types
  - UC – Uncacheable (and UC-)
  - WC – Write Combining
  - WP – Write Protect
  - WT – Write Through
  - WB – Write Back
- Assignment Mechanisms
  - Memory Type and Range Registers (MTRRs)
  - Page Attribute Table Register (PAT)
Intro to Virtualization Technology (Intel-VT)
- What is virtualization
- Hardware extensions: Intel-VTx
  - VMX Root Mode (Host Mode) vs VMX non-Root Mode (Guest Mode)
  - Virtual Machine Control Structure (VMCS)
  - Intel-VT instructions (VMLAUNCH, VMRESUME, etc.) and #VMEXIT
- Memory Management with Virtualization
  - Shadow Page Tables
  - Extended (Nested) Page Tables
  - TLB Management with Virtualization
System Management Mode

Recommended Prerequisites:

General Familiarity with computer architecture.

Supplied Materials:

MindShare’s x86 Instruction Set Architecture Book or eBook.
Author: Tom Shanley
Publisher: MindShare Press
Available through the MindShare Store and major bookstore outlets.

Students will be provided with the MindShare x86 debugger used for the labs in class and an electronic version of the slides.

SCHEDULE THIS CLASS

	LOOK INSIDE THIS BOOK

x86 Instruction Set Architecture