Patent · US Expired

Temporal garbage collector with indirection cells

US4807120A · kind A · utility

24Cited by
5References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateApr 30, 1987
Grant dateFeb 21, 1989
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 30, 2007

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S707/99957
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A garbage collection system for digital computers classifies memory objects into generations. Objects in older generations which need to reference younger generations must do so indirectly through indirection cells located in the older generation. Thus, all pointers into a generation come from younger generations or indirection cells. When a generation is collected, the indirection cells in that generation are defined to be oldspace and collected in the usual manner. Indirection cells of older generations which can point to the generation being collected are processed by a scavenger. The system also includes read and write barriers which function to filter out undesirable pointers based on the classification and volatility of memory regions to which they point or are destined to be stored.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.