Method and apparatus for efficient virtual memory management
US6886085B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 10, 2000 |
| Grant date | Apr 26, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 30, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2212/702
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and an apparatus that improves virtual memory management. The proposed method and apparatus provides an application with an efficient channel for communicating information about future behavior of an application with respect to the use of memory and other resources to the OS, a paging daemon, and other system software. The state of hint bits, which are integrated into page table entries and TLB entries and are used for communicating information to the OS, can be changed explicitly with a special instruction or implicitly as a result of referencing the associated page. The latter is useful for canceling hints. The method and apparatus enables memory allocators, garbage collectors, and compilers (such as those used by the Java platform) to use a page-aligned heap and a page-aligned stack to assist the OS in effective management of memory resources. This mechanism can also be used in other system software.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.