Compact Key-Value Structure for Faster Memory Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing computer systems face inefficiencies in data storage and retrieval due to the limitations of memory hierarchies, where higher performance memories have limited capacity and are expensive, leading to suboptimal utilization and access times.
Innovation Solution
A compact in-memory key-value data structure is developed, utilizing a Direct Access Map (DAM) that aligns data with a 64-bit word size, encoding strings using 7-bit ASCII and optimizing data storage to minimize memory operations, allowing efficient storage and retrieval of data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If data is stored in high performance volatile cache memories closer to the processor, then data access speed is improved, but memory capacity is reduced and cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into fixed 64-bit word-aligned units and organizes them in a structured key-value format. This segmentation allows efficient packing of data elements into cache memory lines, maximizing the utilization of limited cache capacity while maintaining fast access speeds through direct word-addressable operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the data representation parameters by encoding strings in 7-bit ASCII format and aligning all data to 64-bit word boundaries. This parameter transformation optimizes storage density in cache memory while enabling efficient single-instruction data retrieval, thereby improving access speed without proportionally increasing capacity requirements.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional data structures are used in memory, then ease of implementation is maintained, but memory usage efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal 64-bit word-aligned data structure that can represent multiple data types (strings, integers, floating-point numbers) in a unified format. This multi-functional structure simplifies implementation by providing consistent memory access patterns while improving memory usage efficiency through compact representation and elimination of type-specific overhead.
3Productivity
If more data is stored in cache memory, then overall system performance is improved, but the limited capacity of high performance memory is exceeded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary organization of data into compact 64-bit word-aligned structures before storing in cache memory. This pre-processing optimizes the data layout to maximize cache utilization, allowing more useful data to be held in the limited cache capacity and thereby improving overall system performance without exceeding memory constraints.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for generating a compact in memory key-value data structure/database which may or may not be hierarchical, i.e., include nested key-value data structures, which can be utilized for other applications. The key-value data to be encoded and stored in the generated database may be extracted from another database, such as a relational database, or other source. It will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments may be used to encode and store any data, not just key-value data sets, which would benefit from the compact long-aligned form generated thereby. The resultant compact data structure may be efficiently accessed to directly retrieve particular data or search for particular data and such access may be enabled using a defined notation/syntax and/or one or more intermediary processes or programs.