Reducing memory fragmentation in network applications with dynamic memory allocators optimized for performance

The needs for run-time data storage in modern wired and wireless network applications are increasing. Additionally, the nature of these applications is very dynamic, resulting in heavy reliance on dynamic memory allocation. The most significant problem in dynamic memory allocation is fragmentation, which can cause the system to run out of memory and crash, if it is left unchecked. The available dynamic memory allocation solutions are provided by the real-time Operating Systems used in embedded or general-purpose systems. These state-of-the-art dynamic memory allocators are designed to satisfy the run-time memory requests of a wide range of applications. Contrary to most applications, network applications need to allocate too many different memory sizes (e.g., hundreds different sizes for packets) and have an extremely dynamic allocation and de-allocation behavior (e.g., unpredictable web-browsing activity). Therefore, the performance and the de-fragmentation efficiency of these alloca...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: COMCOM
• Authors: Stylianos Mamagkakis, Christos Baloukas, David Atienza, Francky Catthoor, Dimitrios Soudris, Antonios Thanailakis
• Keywords: COMCOM 2006, Dynamic Memory, Dynamic Memory Allocation, Dynamic Memory Allocators