Instruction for performing a pseudorandom number seed operation

A computer system for executing a machine instruction, the computer system comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, said method comprising:
• obtaining a machine instruction for execution, the machine instruction being defined for computer execution according to a computer architecture, the machine instruction having associated therewith:
• an opcode field to provide an opcode, the opcode to identify a perform pseudorandom number operation;
• and
• a register field to be used to identify a register, the register to specify a location in memory of an operand to be used by the machine instruction;
• and
• another register field to be used to identify another register, the another register to specify a location in memory of another operand to be used by the machine instruction;
• executing the machine instruction, the executing comprising:
• obtaining a modifier indicator from a register associated with the machine instruction;
• based on the modifier indicator having a first value, performing a deterministic pseudorandom number seed operation, the deterministic pseudorandom number seed operation comprising:
• obtaining seed material based on information included in the operand;
• using a selected hash technique and the seed material to provide one or more seed values;
• storing the one or more seed values in a parameter block associated with the machine instruction;
• and
• based on the modifier indicator having a second value, performing a deterministic pseudorandom number generate operation, the deterministic pseudorandom number generate operation comprising:
• for each block of memory of one or more blocks of memory of the another operand, generating a hash value using the selected hash technique and at least one seed value of the one or more seed values in the parameter block, and storing at least a portion of the generated hash value in a corresponding block of memory of the other operand, the generated hash value being at least a portion of a pseudorandom number.

A computer-implemented method of executing a machine instruction, the computer-implemented method comprising:

• obtaining, by a processor, a machine instruction for execution, the machine instruction being defined for computer execution according to a computer architecture, the machine instruction having associated therewith:
• an opcode field to provide an opcode, the opcode to identify a perform pseudorandom number operation;
• and
• a register field to be used to identify a register, the register to specify a location in memory of an operand to be used by the machine instruction;
• and
• executing the machine instruction, the executing comprising:
• another register field to be used to identify another register, the another register to specify a location in memory of another operand to be used by the machine instruction;
• obtaining a modifier indicator from a register associated with the machine instruction;
• based on the modifier indicator having a first value, performing a deterministic pseudorandom number seed operation, the deterministic pseudorandom number seed operation comprising:
• obtaining seed material based on information included in the operand;
• using a selected hash technique and the seed material to provide one or more seed values;
• storing the one or more seed values in a parameter block associated with the machine instruction;
• and
• based on the modifier indicator having a second value, performing a deterministic pseudorandom number generate operation, the deterministic pseudorandom number generate operation comprising:
• for each block of memory of one or more blocks of memory of the another operand, generating a hash value using the selected hash technique and at least one seed value of the one or more seed values in the parameter block, and storing at least a portion of the generated hash value in a corresponding block of memory of the other operand, the generated hash value being at least a portion of a pseudorandom number.