Affinity Domain Lookup via Page Table Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
As memory sizes increase, determining the location of a particular page in computing systems becomes time-consuming and hardware-intensive due to non-uniform memory access in systems with virtualization, leading to potential security and data privacy issues.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for determining affinity domain information based on virtual memory addresses using a page table to map virtual addresses to physical addresses, identifying the affinity domain associated with the physical memory page, and providing affinity domain information to optimize memory access and management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If memory sizes continue to grow, then memory capacity increases, but determining page location becomes time-consuming and hardware intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-determines and stores affinity domain information in the page table entries during memory allocation, so that when a virtual address needs to be accessed, the affinity domain is already known without requiring additional lookup operations at access time
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an affinity domain identifier as an intermediary field in the page table structure, which acts as a mediator between the virtual address and the physical memory location, enabling quick determination of memory affinity without direct complex calculations
2Reliability
If virtualization is employed to abstract physical resources, then resource partitioning and security improve, but memory access complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The memory system is segmented into multiple affinity domains, each associated with specific processors and local memory. The page table is segmented to include affinity domain information for each virtual address, allowing the system to manage complex virtualized memory through structured segmentation without increasing access complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements local affinity domains where processors have preferential access to local memory through dedicated affinity domain information. This creates local optimization without affecting global memory management, allowing secure virtualization while maintaining simple local access patterns
3Adaptability or versatility
If page table mapping is used to translate virtual addresses to physical addresses, then memory management flexibility improves, but the process becomes hardware intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The affinity domain information is pre-calculated and stored in the page table during address translation setup, eliminating the need for additional hardware computations during actual memory access operations. The page table entries are prepared in advance with all necessary affinity information
Data Source
AI summary
A method for determining affinity domain information based on virtual memory address in a computing system where access to memory is non-uniform includes receiving a request to identify an affinity domain associated with a specified virtual memory address. The affinity domain includes a cluster of processors and memory local to the cluster of processors. A physical memory page corresponding to the specified virtual memory address is determined using a page table mapping a plurality of virtual memory addresses to a plurality of physical addresses. An affinity domain associated with the determined physical memory page is identified. Affinity domain information is provided for the identified affinity domain.