System for providing transitions between operating modes of a device

1. A method for providing transitions between operating modes of a device, wherein the operating modes comprise a privileged mode and a non-privileged mode, the method comprising:

executing an application in the non-privileged mode;

generating an interrupt to request the services of a privileged function; and

transitioning to the privileged mode to execute the privileged function; wherein

said step of transitioning does not create or schedule a new task,

said step of transitioning comprises switching to a privileged mode stack, and

the privileged function is executed as part of the same thread of execution as the application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the interrupt is a software interrupt.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising validating that the privileged function is a trusted function.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising validating that the execution of the privileged function will not exceed access rights associated with the application.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transitioning to the non-privileged mode to execute the application when the execution of the privileged function is completed.

6. A method for providing transitions between operating modes of a device, wherein the operating modes comprise a privileged mode and a non-privileged mode, and the method comprising:

executing an application in the non-privileged mode;

generating an interrupt to request the services of a privileged function; and

transitioning to the privileged mode to execute the privileged function, wherein said transitioning does not create or schedule a new task and comprises:

switching to a privileged mode stack; and

the privileged function is executed as part of the same thread of execution as the application.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device is a wireless device.

8. An apparatus for providing transitions between operating modes of a device, wherein the operating modes comprise a privileged mode and a non-privileged mode, the apparatus comprising:

a processing logic that operates to execute an application in the non-privileged mode;

a interrupt logic that operates to receive an interrupt that requests the services of a privileged function; and

a transition logic that operates to transition to the privileged mode to execute the privileged function; wherein

said transition to the privileged mode does not create or schedule a new task,

said transition to the privileged mode comprises switching to a privileged mode stack, and

the privileged function is executed as part of the same execution thread as the application.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the interrupt is a software interrupt.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising validation logic that operates to validate that the privileged function is a trusted function.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising validation logic that operates to validate that the execution of the privileged function will not exceed access rights associated with the application.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the device is a wireless device.

13. An apparatus for providing transitions between operating modes of a device, wherein the operating modes comprise a privileged mode and a non-privileged mode, the apparatus comprising:

a means for executing an application in the non-privileged mode;

a means for receiving an interrupt that requests the services of a privileged function; and

a means for transitioning to the privileged mode to execute the privileged function; wherein

said transition to the privileged mode comprises switching to a privileged mode stack,

said transition to the privileged mode does not create or schedule a new task, and

the privileged function is executed as part of the same execution thread as the application.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the interrupt is a software interrupt.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising means for validating that the privileged function is a trusted function.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising means for validating that the execution of the privileged function will not exceed access rights associated with the application.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the device is a wireless device.

18. A computer-readable media tangibly storing a sequence of instructions, which when executed by a processor in a device, operate to cause a computer to provide transitions between operating modes of the device, wherein the operating modes comprise a non privileged mode and a privileged mode, and the sequence of instruction comprising:

instructions for executing an application in the non-privileged mode;

instructions for generating an interrupt to request the services of a privileged function; and

instructions for transitioning to the privileged mode to execute the privileged function; wherein

said transition to the privileged mode comprises switching to a privileged mode stack,

said transition to the privileged mode does not create or schedule a new task, and

the privileged function is executed as part of the same thread of execution as the application.

19. The computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein the interrupt is a software interrupt.

20. The computer-readable media of claim 18 , further comprising instructions for validating that the privileged function is a trusted function.

21. The computer-readable media of claim 18 , further comprising instructions for validating that the execution of the privileged function will not exceed access rights associated with the application.

22. The computer-readable media of claim 18 , further comprising instructions for transitioning to the non-privileged mode to execute the application when the execution of the privileged function is completed.

23. The computer-readable media of claim 18 , wherein the device is a wireless device.