Document Type

Technical Report

Publication Date

2003-11-25

Filename

wucse-2003-77.pdf

Technical Report Number

WUCSE-2003-77

Abstract

Most modern application programs depend on dynamic storage management to handle allocation and deallocation of memory. Unfortunately conventional software-based storage managers are relatively low performance due to the latency associated with accessing DRAM memory. Consequently, developers of programs with very specialized memory requirements, such a real-time systems, often choose to manage memory manually at the application-code level. This practice can greatly increase performance but it can also significantly complicate the development process. In this thesis we present the design, VHDL implementation and performance evaluation of hardware-based storage manager called the Optimized Hardware Estranged Buddy System (OHEBS). The OHEBS implements four distinct hardware-specific optimizations, as well as an algorithmic optimization, to greatly enhance storage management performance. The system is general-purpose, yet offers exceptionally good average-case performance and ensures that the worst-case execution times of storage-management instructions are reasonably bounded, making it a prime candidate for use with both high-performance and real-time applications.

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Permanent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7936/K7N014WT

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