System, method, and software for memory management with intelligent trimming of pages of working sets
US6496912B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 25, 1999 |
| Grant date | Dec 17, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 25, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F12/121
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A computer system, method and computer readable medium for memory management with intelligent trimming of pages of working sets are disclosed. The computer system has memory space allocatable in chunks, known as pages, to specific application programs or processes. The pages allocated to a specific application program or process define a working set of pages for the program or process. Occasionally, a system runs short of free memory space and needs to reduce the size of working sets using a process called trimming. A trimming method is disclosed that estimates numbers of trimmable pages for working sets based upon a measure of how much time has elapsed since the memory pages were last accessed by the corresponding application program. This estimation is performed prior to the need to trim working sets, and the trimming method uses these estimates to facilitate faster and more accurate trimming and thus faster recovery from shortages of free memory.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.