Heap and stack layout for multithreaded processes in a processing system
US7447829B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 15, 2003 |
| Grant date | Nov 4, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 16, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F12/023
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and system in accordance with the present invention comprises a thread stack/thread heap combination, wherein the thread heap is for thread local memory usage and wherein the thread stack and thread heap grow in opposite directions. In the present invention the thread specific heap is allocated next to the thread's stack and grows in the opposite direction from that of the stack. This improvement allows the current space management of thread stacks, which spread out the memory placement of multiple stacks to avoid collision, to also be used for the heaps without additional overhead or complexity. It also allows the existing growth scheme of adding memory pages to the process for the stack to be used again because the growth is simply in the opposite direction. Thread specific heaps eliminate the need for expensive synchronization when allocating from a shared heap in a multiprocessor environment.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.