Memory management system and method

• US 8,380,959 B2
• Filed: 09/05/2008
• Issued: 02/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Lindahl, Aram, Boettcher, Jesse W., Rempel, David J., Desai, Pulkit, Wong, Vincent
• Primary Examiner(s): Verbrugge, Kevin
• Assistant Examiner(s): CARDWELL, ERIC
• Application Number:
  US12/205,702
• Publication Number:
  US 20100064113A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,628 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/023 Free address space management

Abstract

A technique for managing memory allocation in an electronic device is provided. In one embodiment, a method includes loading a memory allocation strategy for an application executed by a processor of a device, and requesting memory for the application from various memory locations in accordance with the memory allocation strategy. In one embodiment, the device includes multiple sets of contiguous memory blocks and a memory heap, memory may be requested from at least one of these memory locations, and memory may then be allocated to the application in response to the request. In some embodiments, the memory allocation strategy may be stored in the device prior to execution of the application. Various other methods, devices, and manufactures are also provided.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a housing;

a storage device disposed in the housing, the storage device including a plurality of executable applications stored therein and each executable application of the plurality of executable applications are assigned an allocation strategy from a plurality of different allocation strategies;

a memory device disposed in the housing, wherein the memory space of the memory device is logically partitioned into at least a first group of one or more contiguous memory blocks, a second group of one or more contiguous memory blocks each smaller than the one or more memory blocks of the first group, and a memory heap containing memory blocks of varying sizes; and

a processor disposed in the housing and configured to execute the plurality of applications stored in the storage device;

wherein the device is configured to allocate memory, from at least one of a memory block of the first group, a memory block of the second group, or the memory heap, to at least one application of the plurality of executable applications upon execution of the at least one application by the processor, wherein the memory allocation is based on an allocation strategy assigned to the at least one application from the plurality of different allocation strategies, and the allocation strategy defines a prioritized order for the first group, the second group, and the memory heap.

2. The device of claim 1, comprising a display disposed in the housing.

3. The device of claim 2, comprising a connection port configured to facilitate communication of a graphical output from the device to an additional, external device.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the connection port is configured to facilitate communication of the graphical output in a television video format.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the television video format includes a National Television System Committee format, a Phase Alternating Line format, a Sequential Color with Memory format, or an Advanced Television Systems Committee format.

6. The device of claim 3, wherein the at least one application is configured to provide a first graphical output to the display, a second graphical output to the additional, external device via the connection port, or both the first and second graphical outputs, and wherein the first and second graphical outputs have different formats.

7. The device of claim 3, wherein the connection port includes a wired connection port or a wireless connection port.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the storage device comprises at least one of a hard drive, flash memory, an expansion card, or read-only memory.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the memory device comprises random access memory.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a portable media player.

11. A method comprising:

loading a memory allocation strategy of an application executed by a processor of a device, the device including a memory space logically organized into at least a first set of contiguous memory blocks, a second set of contiguous memory blocks, and a memory heap containing memory blocks of varying sizes, wherein the memory allocation strategy defines a prioritized order for the first set, the second set, and the memory heap and is stored in memory of the device prior to execution of the application, and additional applications are assigned an allocation strategy from a plurality of different allocation strategies including the memory allocation strategy;

requesting a portion of the memory space for the application according to the memory allocation strategy; and

allocating memory space to the application from at least one contiguous memory block of the first or second sets, or from the memory heap, in response to the request.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the memory allocation strategy defines a first preference for requesting memory space from one of the first set, the second set, or the memory heap.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the memory allocation strategy further defines at least one additional preference for requesting memory space from another of the first set, the second set, or the memory heap if memory space cannot be allocated according to the first preference.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the application is configured to provide a graphical output to an integrated display of the device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein each of the memory blocks of the first set are larger than each of the memory blocks of the second set, and wherein requesting the portion of the memory space includes requesting memory space from the first set of memory blocks.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein allocating memory space includes allocating at least one available memory block of the first set to the application.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein allocating memory space includes allocating available memory space from the second set of memory blocks or from the memory heap if no memory blocks in the first set are available.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein allocating available memory space from the second set of memory blocks or from the memory heap is performed in accordance with the memory allocation strategy.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the application is configured to provide an additional graphical output to a remote device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein loading the memory allocation strategy includes loading at least one of a first memory allocation strategy associated with providing the graphical output to the integrated display or a different, second memory allocation strategy associated with providing the additional graphical output to the remote device.

21. The method of claim 11, comprising releasing the allocated memory space when no longer needed by the application.

22. The method of claim 11, wherein the application is associated with a plurality of memory allocation strategies.

23. The method of claim 11, wherein allocating memory space to the application comprises allocating only a portion of the at least one contiguous memory block of the first or second sets to the application such that the remainder of the at least one contiguous memory block may be operated as a secondary memory heap.

24. A manufacture comprising:

one or more tangible, computer-readable media having application instructions encoded thereon, the application instructions comprising;

instructions for determining a memory allocation strategy associated with a graphics program from a plurality of different memory allocation strategies; and

instructions for allocating graphics memory space from one of at least three different logical groups within the graphics memory space, the three different logical groups including a heap memory containing memory blocks of varying sizes, a first block of contiguous memory, and a second block of contiguous memory larger than the first block, wherein the memory allocation strategy defines a prioritized order for the heap memory, the first block, and the second block.

25. The manufacture of claim 24, wherein the one or more tangible, computer-readable media include at least one of flash memory, read-only memory, random access memory, or a hard drive.

26. The manufacture of claim 24, wherein the one or more tangible, computer-readable media include the graphics program encoded thereon.

27. A device comprising:

a housing;

a display disposed in the housing;

a storage device disposed in the housing, the storage device including a plurality of executable applications stored therein and each executable application of the plurality of executable applications are assigned an allocation strategy from a plurality of different allocation strategies, the plurality of executable applications including graphical applications configured to provide graphical outputs in a first format to the display disposed in the housing and in a second format, different from the first format, to an additional display external to the housing;

a processor disposed in the housing and configured to execute the plurality of applications stored in the storage device; and

a memory device disposed in the housing, wherein the memory space of the memory device is logically partitioned into at least a first plurality of memory blocks, a second plurality of memory blocks, and a memory heap containing memory blocks of varying sizes;

wherein the device is configured to allocate memory from the first plurality of memory blocks, if available, to a first graphical application configured to provide graphical outputs in the first format to the display disposed within the housing, and to allocate memory from the second plurality of memory blocks, if available, to a second graphical application configured to provide graphical outputs in the second format to the additional display external to the housing, wherein the allocation strategy defines a prioritized order for the first plurality of memory blocks, the second plurality of memory blocks, and the memory heap.

28. The device of claim 27, wherein the first format and the second format have different output resolutions.