Memory tracking with preservation of alignment semantics
View Patent ↗A method and system for tracking usage of memory in a computer system is provided. Arguments for both the size of a memory allocation and the type of memory being allocated are reserved in a fixed location. A first fixed location is reserved for small memory allocations, i.e. less than one page, and a second fixed location is reserved for large memory allocations, i.e. one page or larger. The fixed location is selected based upon a determination of the size of an allocation required by a calling application. Upon receipt of a memory allocation request by the calling application, a pointer is returned to the calling application identifying the fixed location. Similarly, upon release of memory by the calling application, a counter is decremented to track the amount of memory in use by the application.
1. A method for tracking memory in a computer system comprising:
maintaining size and type information of a memory allocation in a fixed location;
selecting a first fixed location for a small memory allocation, and selecting a second fixed location for a large memory allocation; and
returning a pointer to a calling application identifying said fixed location.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of selecting first and second fixed locations includes distinguishing between small and large memory allocations.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first fixed location is a header of a small memory allocation.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second fixed location is a hash table for a large memory allocation.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising identifying a location of said memory size allocation in said hash table.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising decrementing a counter by a size of said memory allocation size upon release of memory by said calling application.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said counter is selected from a group consisting of: a paged memory counter and a non-paged memory counter.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of returning a pointer to a calling application includes satisfying Windows alignment semantics for allocated memory.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said type information is selected from a group consisting of: paged and non-paged.
10. A computer system comprising:
a memory manager adapted to maintain memory size and type of memory allocation information in a fixed location;
an allocation manager adapted to select a first fixed location for a small memory allocation, and a second fixed location for a large memory allocation; and
a pointer adapted to identify said fixed location for a calling application.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein said allocation manager differentiates between a small memory allocation and a large memory allocation.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein said first fixed location is a header of a small memory allocation.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein said second fixed location is a hash table for a large memory allocation.
14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising a locator adapted to identify a location of said memory size allocation in said hash table.
15. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a counter of a memory allocation size adapted to be decremented in response to release of memory by said calling application.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein said counter is selected from the group consisting of: a paged memory counter and a non-paged memory counter.
17. The system of claim 10 , wherein a return of said pointer to a calling application satisfies Windows alignment semantics for allocated memory.
18. The system of claim 10 , wherein said type information is selected from a group consisting of: paged and non-paged.
19. An article comprising:
a computer-readable signal-bearing medium;
means in the medium for maintaining size and type information of memory allocation in a fixed location;
means in the medium for selecting a first fixed location for a small memory allocation and a second fixed location for a large memory allocation; and
means in the medium for identifying said fixed location to a calling application.
20. The article of claim 19 , wherein said medium is recordable data storage medium.
21. The article of claim 19 , wherein said mean for selecting first and second fixed locations includes differentiating between a small and a large memory allocation in said fixed location.
22. The article of claim 19 , wherein said means for maintaining size and type of memory allocation is a memory manager.
23. The article of claim 19 , wherein said first fixed location is a header of a small memory allocation.
24. The article of claim 19 , wherein said second fixed location is a hash table for a large memory allocation.
25. The article of claim 24 , further comprising means in the medium for identifying a location of said memory size allocation in said hash table.
26. The article of claim 25 , wherein said means for identifying said fixed location for return to a calling application includes satisfying Windows alignment semantics for allocated memory.
27. The article of claim 19 , further comprising means in the medium for maintaining a count of memory used by said calling application.
28. The article of claim 27 , wherein said means for maintaining said count is selected from the group consisting of: a paged
memory counter and a non-paged memory counter.