Patent · US Active

Parallel dynamic memory allocation using a lock-free pop-only FIFO

US9417881B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by

4References

28Claims

0Family size

Assignee

NVIDIA Corporation · US

Inventors

Stephen Jones · Santa Clara, US
Xiaohuang Huang · Hangzhou City, CN

Key dates

Filing date	Jan 30, 2012
Grant date	Aug 16, 2016
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Jul 2, 2033

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG06F12/0223
WIPO fieldComputer technology
WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for dynamically allocating memory using one or more lock-free pop-only FIFOs. One or more lock-free FIFOs are populated with FIFO nodes, where each FIFO node represents a memory allocation of a predetermined size. Each particular lock-free FIFO includes memory allocations of a single size. Different lock-free FIFOs may include memory allocations for different sizes to service allocation requests for different size memory allocations. A lock-free mechanism is used to pop FIFO nodes from the FIFO. The use of the lock-free FIFO allows multiple consumers to simultaneously attempt to pop the head FIFO node without first obtaining a lock to ensure exclusive access of the FIFO.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.