Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory – Storage accessing and control – Hierarchical memories
Patent
1997-07-29
1999-12-14
Chan, Eddie P.
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory
Storage accessing and control
Hierarchical memories
711113, 711118, 711204, 711213, G06F 1212
Patent
active
060031158
ABSTRACT:
An improved method for loading a cache is described. The present invention monitors memory access to identify specific types of memory access, for example, requests to launch executable program code stored in a hard disk drive. The method maps the stored program code into a plurality of memory blocks. The memory block access during the launching of the executable program code is then profiled. When the computer remains idle for a predetermined time the profiling process is stopped. Alternatively, if the computer does not remain idle, for the predetermined time, the profiling process is stopped after a timeout period. The profile is then evaluated to identify the most frequently accessed memory blocks. A list of the most frequently accessed memory blocks is stored. The number of memory blocks stored in the list depends upon the size of the cache. The file access system is monitored to identify the next time that a profiled memory access process is initiated. When a profiled process is initiated, the list of the most frequently accessed memory blocks for that process is retrieved. These memory blocks are then pre-loaded into the software disk cache. Pre-loading the memory blocks into the disk cache avoids the long access times required to load pages from persistent storage devices, and thus significantly increases the execution speed of the application program. The present invention predictive cache system can reduce the time required to load executable programs from a hard disk by 40%.
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Cusato Damon L.
Spear Daniel S.
Chan Eddie P.
Nguyen Than V.
Quarterdeck Corporation
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