Incremental garbage collector with decommit barrier
US6055612A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 11, 1997 |
| Grant date | Apr 25, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 11, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S707/99956
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An incremental garbage collector which permits a memory allocator's decommit mechanism to operate while the garbage collector is detecting memory that a program being executed is certainly not using. The garbage collector includes a decommit barrier which prevents the garbage collector from referencing memory that the allocator has decommitted from the address space of the process on which the program is executing. In mark-sweep incremental garbage collectors, the decommit barrier may be implemented in two ways: by means of a table which the allocator marks whenever it determines that a portion of memory is subject to being decommitted from the process's address space and which the garbage collector examines before scanning the portion and by means of a table which the garbage collector marks when it finds that a portion of memory must be scanned and which the allocator examines before decommitting the portion. The decommit barrier may further be implemented as a response to the fault that occurs when the garbage collector attempts to reference a portion of memory that has been decommitted.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.