Lightweight random memory allocation

US8966217B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC · US

Inventors

• Gregory J. Colombo · Redmond, US
• Hari R. Pulapaka · Redmond, US
• Arun U. Kishan · Kirkland, US
• Stephen L. Hufnagel · Northville, US
• Garrett Leischner · Seattle, US
• Evan Lincoln Tice · Seattle, US
• Matthew Ryan Miller · Seattle, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 10, 2014
• Grant date: Feb 24, 2015
• Expiry date: Mar 10, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06F12/0223
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

In response to a memory allocation request received from an application thread, a random number is obtained (e.g., from a random number list previously populated with multiple random numbers). A starting location in at least a portion of a bitmap associated with a region including multiple blocks of the memory is determined based on the random number. A portion of the bitmap is scanned, beginning at the starting location, to identify a location in the bitmap corresponding to an available block of the multiple blocks, and an indication of this available block is returned to the application thread.