Archiving Programs for the Future

Alexander Binun, Shlomi Dolev, Yin Li

2015

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach for long-term software archiving which is based on preserving programs as bit blocks. A simple machine that is able to execute a single command is used to interpret these bit blocks. We suggest to compile the existing programs into the bit representation of the One-Instruction-Set computer (OISC) command “SUBtract and Branch if Less than or EQual to zero”, shortly Subleq. This is in order to keep the resulting bit stream using error correcting code in a reliable storage unit. At any moment, this bit stream can be executed by a simple interpreter that possesses the functionality of a basic Random Access Machine. Furthermore, a compiler prototype based on an existing compiler and interpreter is also proposed to convert a program written by a procedural language (e.g., C) into the Subleq assembly language, and then translates it into a binary executable format. Error correcting is achieved by supplementing bit streams with Hamming codes. Our scheme nullifies the need to preserve legacy hardware in order to support/operate preserved software systems thus serving as a program “time capsule” for the future.

References

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Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Binun A., Dolev S. and Li Y. (2015). Archiving Programs for the Future . In Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Software Knowledge - Volume 1: SKY, (IC3K 2015) ISBN 978-989-758-162-5, pages 49-53. DOI: 10.5220/0005670700490053


in Bibtex Style

@conference{sky15,
author={Alexander Binun and Shlomi Dolev and Yin Li},
title={Archiving Programs for the Future},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Software Knowledge - Volume 1: SKY, (IC3K 2015)},
year={2015},
pages={49-53},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005670700490053},
isbn={978-989-758-162-5},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Software Knowledge - Volume 1: SKY, (IC3K 2015)
TI - Archiving Programs for the Future
SN - 978-989-758-162-5
AU - Binun A.
AU - Dolev S.
AU - Li Y.
PY - 2015
SP - 49
EP - 53
DO - 10.5220/0005670700490053