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    r73475a5 rfa59c40  
    1 % Type: Paper
    2 %
    3 % Abstract
    4 %
    5 % A new C-based concurrent memory-allocator is presented, called llheap (ll => low latency). It supports C/C++ applications with multiple kernel threads, or it can be embedded into user-threading runtime-systems. llheap extends the C allocation API with new functions providing orthogonal access to allocation features; hence, programmers do have to code missing combinations. llheap also extends the C allocation semantics by remembering multiple aspects of the initial allocation. These properties can be queried, allowing programmers to write safer programs by preserving these properties in future allocations. As well, realloc/reallocarray preserve initial zero-fill and alignment properties when adjusting storage size, again increasing future allocation safety. The allocator provides a contention-free statistics gathering mode, and a debugging mode for dynamically checking allocation pre/post conditions and invariants. These modes are invaluable for understanding and debugging a program's dynamic allocation behaviour, with low enough cost to be used in production code. An example is presented for condensing the allocation API using advanced type-systems, providing a single type-safe allocation routine using named arguments. Finally, performance results across a number of benchmarks show llheap is competitive with other modern memory allocators.
    6 %
    7 % Upload: llheap.pdf
    8 %
    9 % Computing Classification Systems
    10 %
    11 % Add
    12 % 500 Software and its engineering > Software libraries and repositories
    13 % Add
    14 % 300 Computing methodologies > Concurrent programming languages
    15 %
    16 % Authors, submitter has to have an orcid
    17 %
    18 % Details & Comments
    19 %
    20 % cover letter
    21 %
    22 % Funding
    23 %  yes
    24 %  Government of Canada >
    25 %  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
    26 %
    27 % Electronic Supplementary Materials No
    28 % Are you submitting a conference paper extension: No
    29 % X  ACM uses CrossCheck, an automated service that checks for plagiarism. Any submission to ACM is subject to such a check. Confirm that you are familiar with the ACM Plagiarism Polic
    30 % To confirm that you have reviewed all title, author, and affiliation information in the submission form and the manuscript for accuracy, and approve its exact use in the final, published article, please check the box to the right. X
    31 
    32 \documentclass[manuscript,screen,review]{acmart}
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    332
    343% Latex packages used in the document.
     
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    144108                _Alignas, _Alignof, __alignof, __alignof__, and, asm, __asm, __asm__, _Atomic, __attribute, __attribute__,
    145109                __auto_type, basetypeof, _Bool, catch, catchResume, choose, coerce, _Complex, __complex, __complex__, __const, __const__,
    146                 coroutine, _Decimal32, _Decimal64, _Decimal128, disable, enable, exception, __extension__, fallthrough, finally, fixup,
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    148112                forall, fortran, generator, _Generic, _Imaginary, __imag, __imag__, inline, __inline, __inline__, int128, __int128, __int128_t,
     
    186150\lstnewenvironment{java}[1][]{\lstset{language=java,moredelim=**[is][\protect\color{red}]{@}{@}}\lstset{#1}}{}
    187151
     152% inline code @...@
     153\lstMakeShortInline@%
     154
     155% \let\OLDthebibliography\thebibliography
     156% \renewcommand\thebibliography[1]{
     157%   \OLDthebibliography{#1}
     158%   \setlength{\parskip}{0pt}
     159%   \setlength{\itemsep}{4pt plus 0.3ex}
     160% }
     161
    188162\newsavebox{\myboxA}
    189163\newsavebox{\myboxB}
     
    193167%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
    194168
     169\articletype{RESEARCH ARTICLE}%
     170
     171% Referees
     172% Doug Lea, dl@cs.oswego.edu, SUNY Oswego
     173% Herb Sutter, hsutter@microsoft.com, Microsoft Corp
     174% Gor Nishanov, gorn@microsoft.com, Microsoft Corp
     175% James Noble, kjx@ecs.vuw.ac.nz, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Engineering and Computer Science
     176
     177\received{XXXXX}
     178\revised{XXXXX}
     179\accepted{XXXXX}
     180
     181\raggedbottom
     182
    195183\title{High-Performance Concurrent Memory Allocation}
    196184
    197 \author{Mubeen Zulfiqar}
    198 \email{m3zulfiq@uwaterloo.ca}
    199 \author{Ayelet Wasik}
    200 \email{aisraeli@plg.uwaterloo.ca}
    201 \author{Peter A. Buhr}
    202 \email{pabuhr@uwaterloo.ca}
    203 \orcid{0000-0003-3747-9281}
    204 \affiliation{%
    205   \institution{University of Waterloo}
    206   \city{Waterloo}
    207   \state{Ontario}
    208   \country{Canada}
    209 }
    210 \author{Dave Dice}
    211 \email{dave.dice@oracle.com}
    212 \orcid{0000-0001-9164-7747}
    213 \affiliation{%
    214   \institution{Oracle Labs}
    215   \city{Burlington}
    216   \state{Massachusetts}
    217   \country{USA}
    218 }
    219 \author{Bryan Chan}
    220 \email{bryan.chan@huawei.com}
    221 \affiliation{%
    222   \institution{Huawei Compiler Lab}
    223   \city{Markham}
    224   \state{Ontario}
    225   \country{Canada}
    226 }
    227 
    228 \renewcommand{\shortauthors}{Zulfiqar et al.}
    229 
    230 % inline code @...@
    231 \lstMakeShortInline@%
     185\author[1]{Mubeen Zulfiqar}
     186\author[1]{Ayelet Wasik}
     187\author[1]{Peter A. Buhr*}
     188\author[2]{Bryan Chan}
     189\author[3]{Dave Dice}
     190\authormark{ZULFIQAR \textsc{et al.}}
     191
     192\address[1]{\orgdiv{Cheriton School of Computer Science}, \orgname{University of Waterloo}, \orgaddress{\state{Waterloo, ON}, \country{Canada}}}
     193\address[2]{\orgdiv{Huawei Compiler Lab}, \orgname{Huawei}, \orgaddress{\state{Markham, ON}, \country{Canada}}}
     194\address[3]{\orgdiv{Oracle Labs}, \orgname{Oracle}, \orgaddress{\state{Burlington, MA}, \country{USA}}}
     195
     196
     197\corres{*Peter A. Buhr, Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada. \email{pabuhr{\char`\@}uwaterloo.ca}}
     198
     199% \fundingInfo{Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada}
     200
     201\abstract[Summary]{%
     202A new C-based concurrent memory-allocator is presented, called llheap (low latency).
     203It can be used standalone in C/\CC applications with multiple kernel threads, or embedded into high-performance user-threading programming languages.
     204llheap extends the feature set of existing C allocation by remembering zero-filled (\lstinline{calloc}) and aligned properties (\lstinline{memalign}) in an allocation.
     205These properties can be queried, allowing programmers to write safer programs by preserving these properties in future allocations.
     206As well, \lstinline{realloc}/\lstinline{reallocarray} preserve these properties when adjusting storage size, again increasing future allocation safety.
     207llheap also extends the C allocation API with \lstinline{aalloc}, \lstinline{amemalign}, \lstinline{cmemalign}, \lstinline{resize}, and extended \lstinline{realloc}, providing orthogonal access to allocation features;
     208hence, programmers do have to code missing combinations.
     209The llheap allocator also provides a contention-free statistics gathering mode, and a debugging mode for dynamically checking allocation pre/post conditions and invariants.
     210These modes are invaluable for understanding and debugging a program's dynamic allocation behaviour, with low enough cost to be used in production code.
     211The llheap API is further extended with the \CFA advanced type-system, providing a single type-safe allocation routine using named arguments, increasing safety and simplifying usage.
     212Finally, performance results across a number of benchmarks show llheap is competitive with the best memory allocators.
     213}% abstract
     214
     215% While not as powerful as the \lstinline{valgrind} interpreter, a large number of allocations mistakes are detected.
     216% A micro-benchmark test-suite is started for comparing allocators, rather than relying on a suite of arbitrary programs. It has been an interesting challenge.
     217% These micro-benchmarks have adjustment knobs to simulate allocation patterns hard-coded into arbitrary test programs.
     218% Existing memory allocators, glibc, dlmalloc, hoard, jemalloc, ptmalloc3, rpmalloc, tbmalloc, and the new allocator llheap are all compared using the new micro-benchmark test-suite.
     219
     220\keywords{memory allocation, (user-level) concurrency, type-safety, statistics, debugging, high performance}
     221
    232222
    233223\begin{document}
    234 
    235 \begin{abstract}
    236 A new C-based concurrent memory-allocator is presented, called llheap (ll $\Rightarrow$ low latency).
    237 It supports C/\CC applications with multiple kernel threads, or it can be embedded into user-threading runtime-systems.
    238 llheap extends the C allocation API with new functions providing orthogonal access to allocation features;
    239 hence, programmers do have to code missing combinations.
    240 llheap also extends the C allocation semantics by remembering multiple aspects of the initial allocation.
    241 These properties can be queried, allowing programmers to write safer programs by preserving these properties in future allocations.
    242 As well, \lstinline{realloc}/\lstinline{reallocarray} preserve initial zero-fill and alignment properties when adjusting storage size, again increasing future allocation safety.
    243 The allocator provides a contention-free statistics gathering mode, and a debugging mode for dynamically checking allocation pre/post conditions and invariants.
    244 These modes are invaluable for understanding and debugging a program's dynamic allocation behaviour, with low enough cost to be used in production code.
    245 An example is presented for condensing the allocation API using advanced type-systems, providing a single type-safe allocation routine using named arguments.
    246 Finally, performance results across a number of benchmarks show llheap is competitive with other modern memory allocators.
    247 \end{abstract}
    248 
    249 \begin{CCSXML}
    250 <concept>
    251 <concept_id>10011007.10011006.10011072</concept_id>
    252 <concept_desc>Software and its engineering~Software libraries and repositories</concept_desc>
    253 <concept_significance>500</concept_significance>
    254 </concept>
    255 </ccs2012>
    256 
    257 <ccs2012>
    258 <concept>
    259 <concept_id>10010147.10011777.10011014</concept_id>
    260 <concept_desc>Computing methodologies~Concurrent programming languages</concept_desc>
    261 <concept_significance>300</concept_significance>
    262 </concept>
    263 \end{CCSXML}
    264 
    265 \ccsdesc[500]{Software and its engineering~Software libraries and repositories}
    266 \ccsdesc[300]{Computing methodologies~Concurrent programming languages}
    267 
    268 \keywords{memory allocation, (user-level) concurrency, type-safety, statistics, debugging, high performance}
    269 
    270 \received{20 February 2007}
    271 \received[revised]{12 March 2009}
    272 \received[accepted]{5 June 2009}
    273 
     224%\linenumbers                           % comment out to turn off line numbering
    274225
    275226\maketitle
    276227
     228
    277229\section{Introduction}
    278230
    279 Memory management services a series of program allocation/deallocation requests and attempts to satisfy them from variable-sized blocks of memory while minimizing total memory usage.
    280 A general-purpose memory allocator cannot anticipate storage requests so its time and space performance cannot be optimal (bin packing).
    281 Each allocator takes advantage of a subset of typical allocation patterns (heuristics) to produce excellent results, both in time and space (similar to LRU paging).
    282 Nevertheless, allocators are a series of compromises, possibly with static or dynamic tuning parameters to optimize specific request patterns.
     231Memory management services a series of program allocation/deallocation requests and attempts to satisfy them from a variable-sized block(s) of memory, while minimizing total memory usage.
     232A general-purpose dynamic-allocation algorithm cannot anticipate allocation requests so its time and space performance is rarely optimal (bin packing).
     233However, allocators take advantage of allocation patterns in typical programs (heuristics) to produce excellent results, both in time and space (similar to LRU paging).
     234Allocators use similar techniques, but each optimizes specific allocation patterns.
     235Nevertheless, allocators are a series of compromises, occasionally with some static or dynamic tuning parameters to optimize specific request patterns.
    283236
    284237
     
    286239\label{s:MemoryStructure}
    287240
    288 Figure~\ref{f:ProgramAddressSpace} shows the typical layout of a program's address space (high addresses to low) divided into a number of zones, with free memory surrounding the dynamic code/data~\cite{memlayout}.
     241Figure~\ref{f:ProgramAddressSpace} shows the typical layout of a program's address space (high to low) divided into a number of zones, with free memory surrounding the dynamic code/data~\cite{memlayout}.
    289242Static code and data are placed into memory at load time from the executable and are fixed-sized at runtime.
    290243Dynamic code/data memory is managed by the dynamic loader for libraries loaded at runtime, which is complex especially in a multi-threaded program~\cite{Huang06}.
    291 However, changes to the dynamic code/data space are typically infrequent, most occurring at program startup and are largely outside of a program's control.
    292 Stack memory is managed by the program call/return mechanism using a LIFO technique.
    293 For stackful coroutines and user threads, new stacks are commonly created in the dynamic-allocation memory.
    294 The dynamic-allocation memory is often a contiguous area, which starts empty and grows/shrinks as the program creates/deletes variables with independent lifetime.
    295 The language's runtime manages this area, where management complexity is a function of the mechanism for deleting variables.
     244However, changes to the dynamic code/data space are typically infrequent, many occurring at program startup, and are largely outside of a program's control.
     245Stack memory is managed by the program call/return-mechanism using a LIFO technique, which works well for sequential programs.
     246For stackful coroutines and user threads, a new stack is commonly created in the dynamic-allocation memory.
     247The dynamic-allocation memory is often a contiguous area (can be memory mapped as multiple areas), which starts empty and grows/shrinks as the program creates/deletes variables with independent lifetime.
     248The programming-language's runtime manages this area, where management complexity is a function of the mechanism for deleting variables.
     249This work focuses solely on management of the dynamic-allocation memory.
    296250
    297251\begin{figure}
     
    307261\label{s:DynamicMemoryManagement}
    308262
    309 Modern programming languages provide two forms of storage management: managed or unmanaged.
    310 Both forms have explicit allocation, but managed memory has implicit deallocation (garbage collection~\cite{Wilson92}, GC) and unmanaged memory has some form of explicit deallocation.
    311 Sometimes there are explicit deallocation hints in managed.
    312 Both forms attempt to reuse freed storage in the heap for new allocations.
    313 Unmanaged languages have no information about allocated \newterm{objects}, and hence, use techniques during freeing to detect adjacent unused storage if coalescing.
    314 Conservative GC attempts to find free objects in an unmanaged system by scanning memory and marking anything that \emph{looks} like a live object.
    315 However, \emph{conservative} means some non-objects might be marked as live;
    316 the goal is not to miss any live objects.
    317 Managed languages maintain sufficient information to locate all live objects.
    318 Precise GC is then able to mark just the live objects.
    319 Both approaches then sweep through the unmarked objects looking for adjacent free storage to coalesce.
    320 Precise GC has a further coalescing option of compacting used objects and adjusting the pointers used to find them to the new locations, resulting in a large area of contiguous free storage.
    321 Languages such as Lisp~\cite{CommonLisp}, Java~\cite{Java}, Haskell~\cite{Haskell}, Go~\cite{Go}, are managed and normally implemented using precise GC.
    322 (Both Go~\cite{Go1.3} and Netscape JavaScript~\cite{JavaScriptGC} switched from conservative to precise GC.)
    323 Languages such as C~\cite{C}, \CC~\cite{C++}, Rust~\cite{Rust} and Swift~\cite{swift} (because of explicit management of weak references) are unmanaged but could be used with conservative GC~\cite{Boehm88}.
    324 This work only examines unmanaged memory with \emph{explicit} deallocation.
    325 % While GC is not part this work, some of the results are applicable to the allocation phase in any memory-management approach.
     263Modern programming languages manage dynamic memory in different ways.
     264Some languages, such as Lisp~\cite{CommonLisp}, Java~\cite{Java}, Haskell~\cite{Haskell}, Go~\cite{Go}, provide explicit allocation but \emph{implicit} deallocation of data through garbage collection~\cite{Wilson92}.
     265In general, garbage collection supports memory compaction, where dynamic (live) data is moved during runtime to better utilize space.
     266However, moving data requires finding and updating pointers to it to reflect the new data locations.
     267Programming languages such as C~\cite{C}, \CC~\cite{C++}, and Rust~\cite{Rust} provide the programmer with explicit allocation \emph{and} deallocation of data.
     268These languages cannot find and subsequently move live data because pointers can be created to any storage zone, including internal components of allocated objects, and may contain temporary invalid values generated by pointer arithmetic.
     269Attempts have been made to perform quasi garbage collection in C/\CC~\cite{Boehm88}, but it is a compromise.
     270This work only examines dynamic management with \emph{explicit} deallocation.
     271While garbage collection and compaction are not part this work, many of the results are applicable to the allocation phase in any memory-management approach.
    326272
    327273Most programs use a general-purpose allocator, usually the one provided by the programming-language's runtime.
    328274In certain languages, programmers can write specialize allocators for specific needs.
    329 POSIX~\cite{POSIX17} provides for replacement of the default memory allocator in C and \CC through a standard API.
    330 Most industry JVMs provide multiple GCs, from which a user selects one for their workload.
    331 %Jikes RVM MMTk~\cite{MMTk} provides a similar generalization for the Java virtual machine.
    332 As well, new languages support concurrency (kernel/user threading), which must be safely handled by the allocator.
    333 Hence, alternative allocators exist for C/\CC with the goal of scaling in multi-threaded programs~\cite{Berger00,mtmalloc,streamflow,tcmalloc}.
     275C and \CC allow easy replacement of the default memory allocator through a standard API.
     276Jikes RVM MMTk~\cite{MMTk} provides a similar generalization for the Java virtual machine.
     277As well, new languages support concurrency (kernel and/or user threading), which must be safely handled by the allocator.
     278Hence, several alternative allocators exist for C/\CC with the goal of scaling in a multi-threaded program~\cite{Berger00,mtmalloc,streamflow,tcmalloc}.
    334279This work examines the design of high-performance allocators for use by kernel and user multi-threaded applications written in C/\CC.
    335280
     
    338283\label{s:Contributions}
    339284
    340 This work provides the following contributions to the area of explicit concurrent dynamic-allocation.
    341 \begin{enumerate}[leftmargin=18pt,topsep=3pt,itemsep=0pt]
    342 \item
    343 Implementation of a new stand-alone concurrent low-latency memory-allocator, called llheap~\cite{llheap}, ($\approx$1,500 lines of code) for C/\CC programs using kernel threads (1:1 threading), and specialized versions for the concurrent languages \uC~\cite{uC++} and \CFA~\cite{Moss18,Delisle21} using user-level threads running on multiple kernel threads (M:N threading).
    344 
    345 \item
    346 Extend the C allocation API with new functions @aalloc@, @amemalign@, @cmemalign@, @resize@, @aligned_resize@, @aligned_realloc@, and @aligned_reallocarray@ to make allocation properties orthogonally accessible.
    347 
    348 \item
    349 Extend the C allocation semantics by preserving with each allocation its request size, the amount allocated, whether it is zero fill, and its alignment.
    350 
    351 \item
    352 Provide additional query operations @malloc_alignment@, @malloc_zero_fill@, and @malloc_size@ to access allocation information.
     285This work provides the following contributions in the area of explicit concurrent dynamic-allocation:
     286\begin{enumerate}[leftmargin=*,itemsep=0pt]
     287\item
     288Implementation of a new stand-alone concurrent low-latency memory-allocator ($\approx$1,400 lines of code) for C/\CC programs using kernel threads (1:1 threading), and specialized versions for the concurrent languages \uC~\cite{uC++} and \CFA~\cite{Moss18,Delisle21} using user-level threads running on multiple kernel threads (M:N threading).
     289
     290\item
     291Extend the standard C heap functionality by preserving with each allocation its request size, the amount allocated, whether it is zero fill, and its alignment.
    353292
    354293\item
    355294Use the preserved zero fill and alignment as \emph{sticky} properties for @realloc@ and @reallocarray@ to zero-fill and align when storage is extended or copied.
    356 Without this extension, it is unsafe to @realloc@ storage if the properties are not preserved when copying.
     295Without this extension, it is unsafe to @realloc@ storage these allocations if the properties are not preserved when copying.
    357296This silent problem is unintuitive to programmers and difficult to locate because it is transient.
    358297
    359298\item
    360 Provide optional extensive, fast, and contention-free allocation statistics to understand allocation behaviour.
    361 
    362 \item
    363 Provide runtime checks to validate allocation operations and identify the amount of unfreed storage at program termination.
     299Provide additional heap operations to make allocation properties orthogonally accessible.
     300\begin{itemize}[topsep=0pt,itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     301\item
     302@aalloc( dimension, elemSize )@ same as @calloc@ except memory is \emph{not} zero filled, which is significantly faster than @calloc@.
     303\item
     304@amemalign( alignment, dimension, elemSize )@ same as @aalloc@ with memory alignment.
     305\item
     306@cmemalign( alignment, dimension, elemSize )@ same as @calloc@ with memory alignment.
     307\item
     308@resize( oaddr, size )@ re-purpose an old allocation for a new type \emph{without} preserving fill or alignment.
     309\item
     310@aligned_resize( oaddr, alignment, size )@ re-purpose an old allocation with new alignment but \emph{without} preserving fill.
     311\item
     312@aligned_realloc( oaddr, alignment, size )@ same as @realloc@ but adding or changing alignment.
     313\item
     314@aligned_reallocarray( oaddr, alignment, dimension, elemSize )@ same as @reallocarray@ but adding or changing alignment.
     315\end{itemize}
     316
     317\item
     318Provide additional query operations to access information about an allocation:
     319\begin{itemize}[topsep=0pt,itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     320\item
     321@malloc_alignment( addr )@ returns the alignment of the allocation.
     322If the allocation is not aligned or @addr@ is @NULL@, the minimal alignment is returned.
     323\item
     324@malloc_zero_fill( addr )@ returns a boolean result indicating if the memory is allocated with zero fill, \eg by @calloc@/@cmemalign@.
     325\item
     326@malloc_size( addr )@ returns the size of the memory allocation.
     327\item
     328@malloc_usable_size( addr )@ returns the usable (total) size of the memory, \ie the bin size containing the allocation, where @malloc_size( addr )@ $\le$ @malloc_usable_size( addr )@.
     329\end{itemize}
     330
     331\item
     332Provide optional extensive, fast, and contention-free allocation statistics to understand allocation behaviour, accessed by:
     333\begin{itemize}[topsep=0pt,itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     334\item
     335@malloc_stats()@ print memory-allocation statistics on the file-descriptor set by @malloc_stats_fd@ (default @stderr@).
     336\item
     337@malloc_info( options, stream )@ print memory-allocation statistics as an XML string on the specified file-descriptor set by @malloc_stats_fd@ (default @stderr@).
     338\item
     339@malloc_stats_fd( fd )@ set file-descriptor number for printing memory-allocation statistics (default @stderr@).
     340This file descriptor is used implicitly by @malloc_stats@ and @malloc_info@.
     341\end{itemize}
     342
     343\item
     344Provide extensive runtime checks to validate allocation operations and identify the amount of unfreed storage at program termination.
    364345
    365346\item
    366347Build 8 different versions of the allocator: static or dynamic linking, with or without statistics or debugging.
    367 A program may link to any of these 8 versions of the allocator often without recompilation (linking or @LD_PRELOAD@).
    368 
    369 \item
    370 Demonstrate how advanced programming-language type-systems can condense the allocation API providing a single type-safe allocation function using named arguments.
    371 
    372 \item
    373 Create a benchmark test-suite for comparing allocators, rather than relying on a suite of arbitrary programs.
    374 
    375 \item
    376 Run performance experiments using the new benchmark test-suite comparing llheap with six of the best allocators in use today.
    377 The goal is to demonstrate that llheap's performance, both in time and space, is comparable to the best allocators in use today.
     348A program may link to any of these 8 versions of the allocator often without recompilation (@LD_PRELOAD@).
     349
     350\item
     351Provide additional heap wrapper functions in \CFA creating a more usable set of allocation operations and properties.
     352
     353\item
     354A micro-benchmark test-suite for comparing allocators rather than relying on a suite of arbitrary programs.
     355These micro-benchmarks have adjustment knobs to simulate allocation patterns hard-coded into arbitrary test programs
    378356\end{enumerate}
    379357
     
    381359\section{Background}
    382360
    383 The following is an overview of allocator design options that affect memory usage and performance (see~\cite{Zulfiqar22} for more details).
    384 Dynamic acquires and releases obtain \newterm{object} storage via calls such as @malloc@/@new@ and @free@/@delete@ in C/\CC, respectively.
     361The following is a quick overview of allocator design options that affect memory usage and performance (see~\cite{Zulfiqar22} for more details).
     362Dynamic acquires and releases obtain storage for a program variable, called an \newterm{object}, through calls such as @malloc@/@new@ and @free@/@delete@ in C/\CC.
    385363A \newterm{memory allocator} contains a complex data-structure and code that manages the layout of objects in the dynamic-allocation zone.
    386 % The management goals are to make allocation/deallocation operations as fast as possible while densely packing objects to make efficient use of memory.
    387 Since objects in C/\CC cannot be moved, only adjacent free storage can be \newterm{coalesced} into larger free areas.
    388 The allocator grows or shrinks the dynamic-allocation zone to obtain storage for objects and reduce memory usage using \newterm{operating system} (OS) calls, such as @mmap@ or @sbrk@ in UNIX.
    389 
    390 
    391 \vspace*{-7pt}
     364The management goals are to make allocation/deallocation operations as fast as possible while densely packing objects to make efficient use of memory.
     365Since objects in C/\CC cannot be moved to aid the packing process, only adjacent free storage can be \newterm{coalesced} into larger free areas.
     366The allocator grows or shrinks the dynamic-allocation zone to obtain storage for objects and reduce memory usage via OS calls, such as @mmap@ or @sbrk@ in UNIX.
     367
     368
    392369\subsection{Allocator Components}
    393370\label{s:AllocatorComponents}
     
    396373The \newterm{management data} is a data structure located at a known memory address and contains fixed-sized information in the static-data memory that references components in the dynamic-allocation memory.
    397374For multi-threaded programs, additional management data may exist in \newterm{thread-local storage} (TLS) for each kernel thread executing the program.
    398 The \newterm{storage data} is composed of allocated/freed objects, and \newterm{reserved memory}.
    399 Allocated objects (white) are variable sized, and are allocated and maintained by the program;
     375The \newterm{storage data} is composed of allocated and freed objects, and \newterm{reserved memory}.
     376Allocated objects (light grey) are variable sized, and are allocated and maintained by the program;
    400377\ie only the program knows the location of allocated storage.
    401 Freed objects (light grey) represent memory deallocated by the program, which are linked into one or more lists facilitating location for new allocations.
    402 Reserved memory (dark grey) is one or more blocks of memory obtained from the OS but not yet used by the program;
    403 if there are multiple reserved blocks, they are normally linked together.
     378Freed objects (white) represent memory deallocated by the program, which are linked into one or more lists facilitating location of new allocations.
     379Reserved memory (dark grey) is one or more blocks of memory obtained from the \newterm{operating system} (OS) but not yet allocated to the program;
     380if there are multiple reserved blocks, they are also chained together.
    404381
    405382\begin{figure}
     
    412389In many allocator designs, allocated objects and reserved blocks have management data embedded within them (see also Section~\ref{s:ObjectContainers}).
    413390Figure~\ref{f:AllocatedObject} shows an allocated object with a header, trailer, and optional spacing around the object.
    414 The header contains information about the object, \eg size, type, \etc.
    415 The trailer may be used to simplify coalescing and/or for safety purposes to mark the end of an object.
     391The header contains information about the object, \eg size, type, etc.
     392The trailer may be used to simplify coalescing and/or for security purposes to mark the end of an object.
    416393An object may be preceded by padding to ensure proper alignment.
    417 Some algorithms quantize allocation requests, resulting in additional space after an object.
     394Some algorithms quantize allocation requests, resulting in additional space after an object less than the quantized value.
    418395When padding and spacing are necessary, neither can be used to satisfy a future allocation request while the current allocation exists.
    419396
    420 A free object often contains management data, \eg size, pointers, \etc.
    421 Often the free list is linked internally so it does not consume additional storage, \ie the link fields are placed at known locations in the unused memory blocks.
    422 For internal linking, the amount of management data for a free node defines the minimum allocation size, \eg if 16 bytes are needed for a free-list node, allocation requests less than 16 bytes are rounded up.
     397A free object often contains management data, \eg size, pointers, etc.
     398Often the free list is chained internally so it does not consume additional storage, \ie the link fields are placed at known locations in the unused memory blocks.
     399For internal chaining, the amount of management data for a free node defines the minimum allocation size, \eg if 16 bytes are needed for a free-list node, allocation requests less than 16 bytes are rounded up.
    423400Often the minimum storage alignment and free-node size are the same.
    424 The information in an allocated or freed object is overwritten when it transitions from allocated to freed and vice-versa by new program data and/or management information, receptively.
    425 For safety purposes, freed storage may be scrubbed (overwritten) to expose inadvertent bugs, such as assuming variables are zero initialized.
     401The information in an allocated or freed object is overwritten when it transitions from allocated to freed and vice-versa by new program data and/or management information.
    426402
    427403\begin{figure}
     
    430406\caption{Allocated Object}
    431407\label{f:AllocatedObject}
    432 
    433 \bigskip
    434 
     408\end{figure}
     409
     410
     411\subsection{Single-Threaded Memory-Allocator}
     412\label{s:SingleThreadedMemoryAllocator}
     413
     414In a sequential (single threaded) program, the program thread performs all allocation operations and concurrency issues do not exist.
     415However, interrupts logically introduce concurrency, if the signal handler performs allocation/deallocation (serially reusable problem~\cite{SeriallyReusable}).
     416In general, the primary issues in a single-threaded allocator are fragmentation and locality.
     417
     418\subsubsection{Fragmentation}
     419\label{s:Fragmentation}
     420
     421Fragmentation is memory requested from the OS but not used allocated objects in by the program.
     422Figure~\ref{f:InternalExternalFragmentation} shows fragmentation is divided into two forms: \emph{internal} or \emph{external}.
     423
     424\begin{figure}
     425\centering
    435426\input{IntExtFragmentation}
    436427\caption{Internal and External Fragmentation}
     
    438429\end{figure}
    439430
    440 
    441 \subsection{Single-Threaded Memory-Allocator}
    442 \label{s:SingleThreadedMemoryAllocator}
    443 
    444 In a sequential (single threaded) program, the program thread performs all allocation operations without direct concurrency issues.
    445 However, interrupts introduce indirect concurrency, if the signal handler performs allocation/deallocation (serially reusable problem~\cite{SeriallyReusable}).
    446 In general, the primary issues in a single-threaded allocator are fragmentation and locality.
    447 
    448 
    449 \subsubsection{Fragmentation}
    450 \label{s:Fragmentation}
    451 
    452 Fragmentation is unused memory requested from the OS.
    453 Figure~\ref{f:InternalExternalFragmentation} shows fragmentation has two forms: \emph{internal} or \emph{external}.
    454 
    455 \newterm{Internal fragmentation} is inaccessible \emph{allocated} memory, such as headers, trailers, \etc.
    456 Internal fragmentation is problematic when management space approaches the object size, \eg for objects $<$16 bytes, memory usage doubles.
     431\newterm{Internal fragmentation} is unaccessible allocated memory, such as headers, trailers, padding, and spacing around an allocated object.
     432Internal fragmentation is problematic when management space becomes a significant proportion of an allocated object, \eg for objects $<$16 bytes, memory usage doubles.
     433An allocator strives to keep internal management information to a minimum.
    457434
    458435\newterm{External fragmentation} is memory not allocated in the program~\cite{Wilson95,Lim98,Siebert00}, which includes all external management data, freed objects, and reserved memory.
    459 This memory is problematic resulting in heap blowup and fragmented memory.
    460 \newterm{Blowup} occurs when freed memory becomes a checkerboard of adjacent allocated and free areas, where the free blocks are too small to service requests, leading to unbounded external fragmentation growth~\cite{Berger00}.
    461 Heap blowup is a fundamental problem in unmanaged languages without compaction.
    462 
    463 Three basic approaches for controlling fragmentation are identified~\cite{Johnstone99}.
    464 The first approach is \newterm{sequential-fit} with a list of free objects (possibly ordered by size) that is searched for a block large enough to fit a requested object.
    465 Different search policies determine the free object selected, \eg the first free object large enough (first fit) or closest to the requested size (best fit).
     436This memory is problematic in two ways: heap blowup and highly fragmented memory.
     437\newterm{Heap blowup} occurs when freed memory cannot be reused for future allocations leading to potentially unbounded external fragmentation growth~\cite{Berger00}.
     438Memory can become \newterm{highly fragmented} after multiple allocations and deallocations of objects, resulting in a checkerboard of adjacent allocated and free areas, where the free blocks are to small to service requests.
     439% Figure~\ref{f:MemoryFragmentation} shows an example of how a small block of memory fragments as objects are allocated and deallocated over time.
     440Heap blowup occurs with allocator policies that are too restrictive in reusing freed memory, \eg the allocated size cannot use a larger free block and/or no coalescing of free storage.
     441% Blocks of free memory become smaller and non-contiguous making them less useful in serving allocation requests.
     442% Memory is highly fragmented when most free blocks are unusable because of their sizes.
     443% For example, Figure~\ref{f:Contiguous} and Figure~\ref{f:HighlyFragmented} have the same quantity of external fragmentation, but Figure~\ref{f:HighlyFragmented} is highly fragmented.
     444% If there is a request to allocate a large object, Figure~\ref{f:Contiguous} is more likely to be able to satisfy it with existing free memory, while Figure~\ref{f:HighlyFragmented} likely has to request more memory from the OS.
     445
     446% \begin{figure}
     447% \centering
     448% \input{MemoryFragmentation}
     449% \caption{Memory Fragmentation}
     450% \label{f:MemoryFragmentation}
     451% \vspace{10pt}
     452% \subfloat[Contiguous]{
     453%       \input{ContigFragmentation}
     454%       \label{f:Contiguous}
     455% } % subfloat
     456%       \subfloat[Highly Fragmented]{
     457%       \input{NonContigFragmentation}
     458% \label{f:HighlyFragmented}
     459% } % subfloat
     460% \caption{Fragmentation Quality}
     461% \label{f:FragmentationQuality}
     462% \end{figure}
     463
     464For a single-threaded memory allocator, three basic approaches for controlling fragmentation are identified~\cite{Johnstone99}.
     465The first approach is a \newterm{sequential-fit algorithm} with one list of free objects that is searched for a block large enough to fit a requested object size.
     466Different search policies determine the free object selected, \eg the first free object large enough or closest to the requested size.
    466467Any storage larger than the request can become spacing after the object or split into a smaller free object.
    467 
    468 The second approach is \newterm{segregation} or \newterm{binning} with a set of lists for different sized freed objects.
    469 The request size is rounded up to the nearest bin size, often leading to internal fragmentation after the object.
    470 A binning algorithm searches for the smallest bin that covers the request, and selects the first free object, if available.
    471 Fewer bin sizes means more internal fragmentation but increased reuse as more request sizes match the bin size.
    472 More bin sizes has less internal fragmentation size but more external fragmentation as larger bins cannot service smaller requests.
    473 Allowing larger bins to service smaller allocations means the freed object can be returned to the matching or larger bin (some advantages to either scheme).
    474 
    475 The third approach is \newterm{splitting} and \newterm{coalescing}.
    476 If there is no matching free storage for allocation, a larger free object is split to get the allocation and the smaller object is put back on the free list.
     468% The cost of the search depends on the shape and quality of the free list, \eg a linear versus a binary-tree free-list, a sorted versus unsorted free-list.
     469
     470The second approach is a \newterm{segregated} or \newterm{binning algorithm} with a set of lists for different sized freed objects.
     471When an object is allocated, the requested size is rounded up to the nearest bin-size, often leading to space after the object.
     472A binning algorithm is fast at finding free memory of the appropriate size and allocating it, since the first free object on the free list is used.
     473Fewer bin sizes means a faster search to find a matching bin, but larger differences between allocation and bin size, which increases unusable space after objects (internal fragmentation).
     474More bin sizes means a slower search but smaller differences matching between allocation and bin size resulting in less internal fragmentation but more external fragmentation if larger bins cannot service smaller requests.
     475Allowing larger bins to service smaller allocations when the matching bin is empty means the freed object can be returned to the matching or larger bin (some advantages to either scheme).
     476% For example, with bin sizes of 8 and 16 bytes, a request for 12 bytes allocates only 12 bytes, but when the object is freed, it is placed on the 8-byte bin-list.
     477% For subsequent requests, the bin free-lists contain objects of different sizes, ranging from one bin-size to the next (8-16 in this example), and a sequential-fit algorithm may be used to find an object large enough for the requested size on the associated bin list.
     478
     479The third approach is a \newterm{splitting} and \newterm{coalescing} algorithms.
     480When an object is allocated, if there is no matching free storage, a larger free object is split into two smaller objects, one matching the allocation size.
    477481For example, in the \newterm{buddy system}, a block of free memory is split into equal chunks, splitting continues until a minimal block is created that fits the allocation.
    478 When an object is deallocated, it is coalesced with the objects immediately before/after it in memory, if they are free, creating a larger block.
     482When an object is deallocated, it is coalesced with the objects immediately before/after it in memory, if they are free, turning them into a larger block.
    479483Coalescing can be done eagerly at each deallocation or lazily when an allocation cannot be fulfilled.
    480484However, coalescing increases allocation latency (unbounded delays), both for allocation and deallocation.
    481485While coalescing does not reduce external fragmentation, the coalesced blocks improve fragmentation quality so future allocations are less likely to cause heap blowup.
     486% Splitting and coalescing can be used with other algorithms to avoid highly fragmented memory.
    482487
    483488
     
    490495Hardware takes advantage of the working set through multiple levels of caching and paging, \ie memory hierarchy.
    491496% When an object is accessed, the memory physically located around the object is also cached with the expectation that the current and nearby objects will be referenced within a short period of time.
    492 % For example, entire cache lines are transferred between cache and memory, and entire virtual-memory pages are transferred between memory and disk.
     497For example, entire cache lines are transferred between cache and memory, and entire virtual-memory pages are transferred between memory and disk.
    493498% A program exhibiting good locality has better performance due to fewer cache misses and page faults\footnote{With the advent of large RAM memory, paging is becoming less of an issue in modern programming.}.
    494499
    495 Temporal locality is largely controlled by program accesses to variables~\cite{Feng05}.
     500Temporal locality is largely controlled by program accesses to its variables~\cite{Feng05}.
    496501An allocator has only indirect influence on temporal locality but largely dictates spatial locality.
    497502For temporal locality, an allocator tries to return recently freed storage for new allocations, as this memory is still \emph{warm} in the memory hierarchy.
     
    501506
    502507An allocator can easily degrade locality by increasing the working set.
    503 For example, it can access an unbounded number of free objects when matching an allocation or coalescing, causing multiple cache or page misses~\cite{Grunwald93}.
     508An allocator can access an unbounded number of free objects when matching an allocation or coalescing, causing multiple cache or page misses~\cite{Grunwald93}.
    504509An allocator can spatially separate related data by binning free storage anywhere in memory, so the related objects are highly separated.
    505510
     
    508513\label{s:MultiThreadedMemoryAllocator}
    509514
    510 In a concurrent program, multiple kernel threads (KT) perform allocations, requiring some form of mutual exclusion.
    511 Along with fragmentation and locality issues, a multi-threaded allocator must deal with false sharing and additional forms of heap blowup.
     515In a concurrent (multi-threaded) program, multiple program threads performs allocation operations and all concurrency issues arise.
     516Along with fragmentation and locality issues, a multi-threaded allocator must deal with mutual exclusion, false sharing, and additional forms of heap blowup.
    512517
    513518
     
    515520\label{s:MutualExclusion}
    516521
    517 % \newterm{Mutual exclusion} provides sequential access to the shared-management data of the heap.
     522\newterm{Mutual exclusion} provides sequential access to the shared-management data of the heap.
    518523There are two performance issues for mutual exclusion.
    519 First, the cost of performing atomic instructions every time a shared resource is accessed to provide mutual exclusion.
    520 Solutions using any atomic fence, atomic instruction (lock free), or lock along a fast path, even with zero contention, results in significant slowdown.
    521 Second, \newterm{contention} on simultaneous access, so threads must wait until the resource is released.
    522 Contention can be reduced by:
    523 1) Using multiple fine-grained locks versus few course-gain locks to spread the contention.
     524First is the cost of performing at least one hardware atomic operation every time a shared resource is accessed.
     525Second is \emph{contention} on simultaneous access, so some threads must wait until the resource is released.
     526Contention can be reduced in a number of ways:
     5271) Using multiple fine-grained locks versus a single lock to spread the contention across the locks.
    5245282) Using trylock and generating new storage if the lock is busy (classic space versus time tradeoff).
    525 % 3) Using one of the many lock-free approaches for reducing contention on basic data-structure operations~\cite{Fatourou12}.
    526 % However, all approaches have degenerate cases where program contention to the heap is high, which is beyond the allocator's control.
    527 Figure~\ref{f:ThreadHeapRelationship} shows how a multi-threaded allocator reduces contention by subdividing a single heap into multiple heaps.
     5293) Using one of the many lock-free approaches for reducing contention on basic data-structure operations~\cite{Oyama99}.
     530However, all approaches have degenerate cases where program contention to the heap is high, which is beyond the allocator's control.
     531
     532
     533\subsubsection{False Sharing}
     534\label{s:FalseSharing}
     535
     536False sharing occurs when two or more threads simultaneously modify different objects sharing a cache line.
     537Changes now invalidate each thread's cache, even though the threads may be uninterested in the other modified object.
     538False sharing can occur three ways:
     5391) Thread T$_1$ allocates objects O$_1$ and O$_2$ on the same cache line and passes O$_2$'s reference to thread T$_2$;
     540both threads now simultaneously modifying the objects on the same cache line.
     5412) Objects O$_1$ and O$_2$ are allocated on the same cache line by thread T$_3$ and their references are passed to T$_1$ and T$_2$, which simultaneously modify the objects.
     5423) T$_2$ deallocates O$_2$, T$_1$ allocates O$_1$ on the same cache line as O$_2$, and T$_2$ reallocated O$_2$ while T$_1$ is using O$_1$.
     543In all three cases, the allocator performs a hidden and possibly transient (non-determinism) operation, making it extremely difficult to find and fix the issue.
     544
     545
     546\subsubsection{Heap Blowup}
     547\label{s:HeapBlowup}
     548
     549In a multi-threaded program, heap blowup occurs when memory freed by one thread is inaccessible to other threads due to the allocation strategy.
     550Specific examples are presented in later subsections.
     551
     552
     553\subsection{Multi-Threaded Allocator Features}
     554\label{s:MultiThreadedAllocatorFeatures}
     555
     556The following features are used in the construction of multi-threaded allocators.
     557
     558\subsubsection{Multiple Heaps}
     559\label{s:MultipleHeaps}
     560
     561Figure~\ref{f:ThreadHeapRelationship} shows how a multi-threaded allocator reduced contention by subdividing a single heap into multiple heaps.
    528562
    529563\begin{figure}
    530564\centering
    531565\subfloat[T:1]{
     566%       \input{SingleHeap.pstex_t}
    532567        \input{SingleHeap}
    533568        \label{f:SingleHeap}
     
    535570\vrule
    536571\subfloat[T:H]{
     572%       \input{MultipleHeaps.pstex_t}
    537573        \input{SharedHeaps}
    538574        \label{f:SharedHeaps}
     
    540576\vrule
    541577\subfloat[1:1]{
     578%       \input{MultipleHeapsGlobal.pstex_t}
    542579        \input{PerThreadHeap}
    543580        \label{f:PerThreadHeap}
     
    549586\begin{description}[leftmargin=*]
    550587\item[T:1 model (Figure~\ref{f:SingleHeap})] is all threads (T) sharing a single heap (1).
    551 % The arrows indicate memory movement for allocation/deallocation operations.
    552 % Memory is obtained from freed objects, reserved memory, or the OS;
    553 % freed memory can be returned to the OS.
    554 To handle concurrency, a single lock is used for all heap operations or fine-grained (lock-free) locking if operations can be made independent.
     588The arrows indicate memory movement for allocation/deallocation operations.
     589Memory is obtained from freed objects, reserved memory, or the OS;
     590freed memory can be returned to the OS.
     591To handle concurrency, a single lock is used for all heap operations or fine-grained locking if operations can be made independent.
    555592As threads perform large numbers of allocations, a single heap becomes a significant source of contention.
    556593
    557594\item[T:H model (Figure~\ref{f:SharedHeaps})] is multiple threads (T) sharing multiple heaps (H).
    558 The allocator allocates/deallocates heaps and assigns threads to heaps often based on dynamic contention pressure.
    559 While locking is required for heap access, contention is (normally) reduced as access is spread across the heaps.
    560 Locking can be reduced (eliminated) using the T:C variant, \ie each CPU has a heap, and a thread cannot migrate from the CPU if executing an allocator critical-section, implemented with restartable critical sections~\cite{Desnoyers19,Dice02} (see also Section~\ref{s:UserlevelThreadingSupport}).
    561 % The goal is minimal heaps (storage) and contention per heap (time).
    562 Multiple heaps increase external fragmentation as the ratio of heaps to threads increases, which can lead to heap blowup, where the worst-case scenario is more heaps than threads.
    563 The external fragmentation is now multiplied by the number of heaps, since each heap manages its own free storage and allocates its own reserved memory.
    564 When freeing, objects normally need to be returned to their original heap (see Section~\ref{s:Ownership}).
    565 % Returning storage to the OS may be difficult or impossible, \eg the contiguous @sbrk@ area in Unix.
     595The allocator independently allocates/deallocates heaps and assigns threads to heaps based on dynamic contention pressure.
     596Locking is required within each heap, but contention is reduced because fewer threads access a specific heap.
     597The goal is minimal heaps (storage) and contention per heap (time).
     598A worst case is more heaps than threads, \eg many threads at startup create a large number of heaps and then the threads reduce.
     599
     600% For example, multiple heaps are managed in a pool, starting with a single or a fixed number of heaps that increase\-/decrease depending on contention\-/space issues.
     601% At creation, a thread is associated with a heap from the pool.
     602% In some implementations of this model, when the thread attempts an allocation and its associated heap is locked (contention), it scans for an unlocked heap in the pool.
     603% If an unlocked heap is found, the thread changes its association and uses that heap.
     604% If all heaps are locked, the thread may create a new heap, use it, and then place the new heap into the pool;
     605% or the thread can block waiting for a heap to become available.
     606% While the heap-pool approach often minimizes the number of extant heaps, the worse case can result in more heaps than threads;
     607% \eg if the number of threads is large at startup with many allocations creating a large number of heaps and then the number of threads reduces.
     608
     609% Threads using multiple heaps need to determine the specific heap to access for an allocation/deallocation, \ie association of thread to heap.
     610% A number of techniques are used to establish this association.
     611% The simplest approach is for each thread to have a pointer to its associated heap (or to administrative information that points to the heap), and this pointer changes if the association changes.
     612% For threading systems with thread-local storage, the heap pointer is created using this mechanism;
     613% otherwise, the heap routines must simulate thread-local storage using approaches like hashing the thread's stack-pointer or thread-id to find its associated heap.
     614
     615% The storage management for multiple heaps is more complex than for a single heap (see Figure~\ref{f:AllocatorComponents}).
     616% Figure~\ref{f:MultipleHeapStorage} illustrates the general storage layout for multiple heaps.
     617% Allocated and free objects are labelled by the thread or heap they are associated with.
     618% (Links between free objects are removed for simplicity.)
     619% The management information for multiple heaps in the static zone must be able to locate all heaps.
     620% The management information for the heaps must reside in the dynamic-allocation zone if there are a variable number.
     621% Each heap in the dynamic zone is composed of a list of free objects and a pointer to its reserved memory.
     622% An alternative implementation is for all heaps to share one reserved memory, which requires a separate lock for the reserved storage to ensure mutual exclusion when acquiring new memory.
     623% Because multiple threads can allocate/free/reallocate adjacent storage, all forms of false sharing may occur.
     624% Other storage-management options are to use @mmap@ to set aside (large) areas of virtual memory for each heap and suballocate each heap's storage within that area, pushing part of the storage management complexity back to the OS.
     625
     626% \begin{figure}
     627% \centering
     628% \input{MultipleHeapsStorage}
     629% \caption{Multiple-Heap Storage}
     630% \label{f:MultipleHeapStorage}
     631% \end{figure}
     632
     633Multiple heaps increase external fragmentation as the ratio of heaps to threads increases, which can lead to heap blowup.
     634The external fragmentation experienced by a program with a single heap is now multiplied by the number of heaps, since each heap manages its own free storage and allocates its own reserved memory.
     635Additionally, objects freed by one heap cannot be reused by other threads without increasing the cost of the memory operations, except indirectly by returning free memory to the OS (see Section~\ref{s:Ownership}).
     636Returning storage to the OS may be difficult or impossible, \eg the contiguous @sbrk@ area in Unix.
    566637% In the worst case, a program in which objects are allocated from one heap but deallocated to another heap means these freed objects are never reused.
    567638
    568 A shared \newterm{global heap} (G) is often introduced to manage the reserved memory among heaps and centralize interacts with the OS.
    569 Instead of heaps making individual object allocations/deallocations through the global heap, resulting in locking and high contention, the global heap partitions the reserved memory into heap (allocation) buffers, which are given out to heaps for their own suballocations.
    570 Hence, a heap's allocations are temporally and spatially accessed densely in a small set of buffers, rather than spread sparsely across the entire reserve memory.
    571 Buffers are allocated at heap startup, after which allocation often reaches a steady state through free lists.
    572 Allocation buffers may increase external fragmentation, since some memory may never be used.
    573 
    574 \item[1:1 model (Figure~\ref{f:PerThreadHeap})] is each thread (1) having its own heap (1), eliminating most contention and locking if threads seldom access another thread's heap (see Section~\ref{s:Ownership}).
     639Adding a \newterm{global heap} (G) attempts to reduce the cost of obtaining/returning memory among heaps (sharing) by buffering storage within the application address-space.
     640Now, each heap obtains and returns storage to/from the global heap rather than the OS.
     641Storage is obtained from the global heap only when a heap allocation cannot be fulfilled, and returned to the global heap when a heap's free memory exceeds some threshold.
     642Similarly, the global heap buffers this memory, obtaining and returning storage to/from the OS as necessary.
     643The global heap does not have its own thread and makes no internal allocation requests;
     644instead, it uses the application thread, which called one of the multiple heaps and then the global heap, to perform operations.
     645Hence, the worst-case cost of a memory operation includes all these steps.
     646With respect to heap blowup, the global heap provides an indirect mechanism to move free memory among heaps, which usually has a much lower cost than interacting with the OS to achieve the same goal and is independent of the mechanism used by the OS to present dynamic memory to an address space.
     647However, since any thread may indirectly perform a memory operation on the global heap, it is a shared resource that requires locking.
     648A single lock can be used to protect the global heap or fine-grained locking can be used to reduce contention.
     649In general, the cost is minimal since the majority of memory operations are completed without the use of the global heap.
     650
     651\item[1:1 model (Figure~\ref{f:PerThreadHeap})] is each thread (1) has a heap (1), eliminating most contention and locking if threads seldom access another thread's heap (see Section~\ref{s:Ownership}).
    575652A thread's objects are consolidated in its heap, better utilizing the cache and paging during thread execution.
    576653In contrast, the T:H model can spread thread objects over a larger area in different heaps.
     654Thread heaps can also reduces false-sharing, unless there are overlapping memory boundaries from another thread's heap.
    577655%For example, assume page boundaries coincide with cache line boundaries, if a thread heap always acquires pages of memory then no two threads share a page or cache line unless pointers are passed among them.
     656
    578657When a thread terminates, it can free its heap objects to the global heap, or the thread heap is retained as-is and reused for a new thread in the future.
    579658Destroying a heap can reduce external fragmentation sooner, since all free objects in the global heap are available for immediate reuse.
    580 Alternatively, reusing a heap can aid the inheriting thread, if it has a similar allocation pattern, because the heap in primed with freed storage of the right sizes.
     659Alternatively, reusing a heap can aid the inheriting thread, if it has a similar allocation pattern because the heap in primed with unfreed storage of the right sizes.
    581660\end{description}
    582661
    583662
    584 \subsubsection{False Sharing}
    585 \label{s:FalseSharing}
    586 
    587 False sharing occurs for a read/write or write/write among threads modifying different memory sharing a cache line~\cite{Bolosky93}.
    588 The write invalidates each thread's cache, even though the threads may be uninterested in the other modified object.
    589 False sharing can occur three ways:
    590 1) Thread T$_1$ allocates objects O$_1$ and O$_2$ on the same cache line and passes O$_2$'s reference to thread T$_2$.
    591 2) Thread T$_1$ allocates object O$_1$ and thread T$_2$ allocates O$_2$, where objects O$_1$ and O$_2$ are on the same cache line.
    592 3) T$_2$ deallocates O$_2$, T$_1$ allocates O$_1$ on the same cache line as O$_2$, and T$_2$ reallocated O$_2$ while T$_1$ is using O$_1$.
    593 In all three cases, the false sharing is hidden and possibly transient (non-deterministic), making it extremely difficult to find and fix.
    594 Case 1) occurs in all three allocator models, and is induced by program behaviour, not the allocator.
    595 Case 2) and 3) are allocator induced, and occurs in T:1 and T:H models due to heap sharing, but not 1:1 with private heaps, except possibly at boundary points among heaps.
     663\subsubsection{User-Level Threading}
     664
     665It is possible to use any of the heap models with user-level (M:N) threading.
     666However, an important goal of user-level threading is for fast operations (creation/termination/context-switching) by not interacting with the OS, which allows the ability to create large numbers of high-performance interacting threads ($>$ 10,000).
     667It is difficult to retain this goal, if the user-threading model is directly involved with the heap model.
     668Figure~\ref{f:UserLevelKernelHeaps} shows that virtually all user-level threading systems use whatever kernel-level heap-model is provided by the language runtime.
     669Hence, a user thread allocates/deallocates from/to the heap of the kernel thread on which it is currently executing.
     670
     671\begin{figure}
     672\centering
     673\input{UserKernelHeaps}
     674\caption{User-Level Kernel Heaps}
     675\label{f:UserLevelKernelHeaps}
     676\end{figure}
     677
     678Adopting user threading results in a subtle problem with shared heaps.
     679With kernel threading, an operation started by a kernel thread is always completed by that thread.
     680For example, if a kernel thread starts an allocation/deallocation on a shared heap, it always completes that operation with that heap, even if preempted, \ie any locking correctness associated with the shared heap is preserved across preemption.
     681However, this correctness property is not preserved for user-level threading.
     682A user thread can start an allocation/deallocation on one kernel thread, be preempted (time slice), and continue running on a different kernel thread to complete the operation~\cite{Dice02}.
     683When the user thread continues on the new kernel thread, it may have pointers into the previous kernel-thread's heap and hold locks associated with it.
     684To get the same kernel-thread safety, time slicing must be disabled/\-enabled around these operations, so the user thread cannot jump to another kernel thread.
     685However, eagerly disabling/enabling time-slicing on the allocation/deallocation fast path is expensive, because preemption is infrequent (milliseconds).
     686Instead, techniques exist to lazily detect this case in the interrupt handler, abort the preemption, and return to the operation so it can complete atomically.
     687Occasional ignoring of a preemption should be benign, but a persistent lack of preemption can result in starvation;
     688techniques like rolling forward the preemption to the next context switch can be used.
     689
     690
     691\subsubsection{Ownership}
     692\label{s:Ownership}
     693
     694\newterm{Ownership} defines which heap an object is returned-to on deallocation.
     695If a thread returns an object to the heap it was originally allocated from, a heap has ownership of its objects.
     696Alternatively, a thread can return an object to the heap it is currently associated with, which can be any heap accessible during a thread's lifetime.
     697Figure~\ref{f:HeapsOwnership} shows an example of multiple heaps (minus the global heap) with and without ownership.
     698Again, the arrows indicate the direction memory conceptually moves for each kind of operation.
     699For the 1:1 thread:heap relationship, a thread only allocates from its own heap, and without ownership, a thread only frees objects to its own heap, which means the heap is private to its owner thread and does not require any locking, called a \newterm{private heap}.
     700For the T:1/T:H models with or without ownership or the 1:1 model with ownership, a thread may free objects to different heaps, which makes each heap publicly accessible to all threads, called a \newterm{public heap}.
     701
     702\begin{figure}
     703\centering
     704\subfloat[Ownership]{
     705        \input{MultipleHeapsOwnership}
     706} % subfloat
     707\hspace{0.25in}
     708\subfloat[No Ownership]{
     709        \input{MultipleHeapsNoOwnership}
     710} % subfloat
     711\caption{Heap Ownership}
     712\label{f:HeapsOwnership}
     713\end{figure}
     714
     715% Figure~\ref{f:MultipleHeapStorageOwnership} shows the effect of ownership on storage layout.
     716% (For simplicity, assume the heaps all use the same size of reserves storage.)
     717% In contrast to Figure~\ref{f:MultipleHeapStorage}, each reserved area used by a heap only contains free storage for that particular heap because threads must return free objects back to the owner heap.
     718% Passive false-sharing may still occur, if delayed ownership is used (see below).
     719
     720% \begin{figure}
     721% \centering
     722% \input{MultipleHeapsOwnershipStorage.pstex_t}
     723% \caption{Multiple-Heap Storage with Ownership}
     724% \label{f:MultipleHeapStorageOwnership}
     725% \end{figure}
     726
     727The main advantage of ownership is preventing heap blowup by returning storage for reuse by the owner heap.
     728Ownership prevents the classical problem where one thread performs allocations from one heap, passes the object to another thread, and the receiving thread deallocates the object to another heap, hence draining the initial heap of storage.
     729Because multiple threads can allocate/free/reallocate adjacent storage in the same heap, all forms of false sharing may occur.
     730The exception is for the 1:1 model if reserved memory does not overlap a cache-line because all allocated storage within a used area is associated with a single thread.
     731In this case, there is no allocator-induced active false-sharing because two adjacent allocated objects used by different threads cannot share a cache-line.
     732Finally, there is no allocator-induced passive false-sharing because two adjacent allocated objects used by different threads cannot occur as free objects are returned to the owner heap.
     733% For example, in Figure~\ref{f:AllocatorInducedPassiveFalseSharing}, the deallocation by Thread$_2$ returns Object$_2$ back to Thread$_1$'s heap;
     734% hence a subsequent allocation by Thread$_2$ cannot return this storage.
     735The disadvantage of ownership is deallocating to another thread's heap so heaps are no longer private and require locks to provide safe concurrent access.
     736
     737Object ownership can be immediate or delayed, meaning free objects may be batched on a separate free list either by the returning or receiving thread.
     738While the returning thread can batch objects, batching across multiple heaps is complex and there is no obvious time when to push back to the owner heap.
     739It is better for returning threads to immediately return to the receiving thread's batch list as the receiving thread has better knowledge when to incorporate the batch list into its free pool.
     740Batching leverages the fact that most allocation patterns use the contention-free fast-path, so locking on the batch list is rare for both the returning and receiving threads.
     741Finally, it is possible for heaps to temporarily steal owned objects rather than return them immediately and then reallocate these objects again.
     742It is unclear whether the complexity of this approach is worthwhile.
     743% However, stealing can result in passive false-sharing.
     744% For example, in Figure~\ref{f:AllocatorInducedPassiveFalseSharing}, Object$_2$ may be deallocated to Thread$_2$'s heap initially.
     745% If Thread$_2$ reallocates Object$_2$ before it is returned to its owner heap, then passive false-sharing may occur.
     746
     747For thread heaps with ownership, it is possible to combine these approaches into a hybrid approach with both private and public heaps.% (see~Figure~\ref{f:HybridPrivatePublicHeap}).
     748The main goal of the hybrid approach is to eliminate locking on thread-local allocation/deallocation, while providing ownership to prevent heap blowup.
     749In the hybrid approach, a thread first allocates from its private heap and second from its public heap if no free memory exists in the private heap.
     750Similarly, a thread first deallocates an object to its private heap, and second to the public heap.
     751Both private and public heaps can allocate/deallocate to/from the global heap if there is no free memory or excess free memory, although an implementation may choose to funnel all interaction with the global heap through one of the heaps.
     752% Note, deallocation from the private to the public (dashed line) is unlikely because there is no obvious advantages unless the public heap provides the only interface to the global heap.
     753Finally, when a thread frees an object it does not own, the object is either freed immediately to its owner's public heap or put in the freeing thread's private heap for delayed ownership, which does allows the freeing thread to temporarily reuse an object before returning it to its owner or batch objects for an owner heap into a single return.
     754
     755% \begin{figure}
     756% \centering
     757% \input{PrivatePublicHeaps.pstex_t}
     758% \caption{Hybrid Private/Public Heap for Per-thread Heaps}
     759% \label{f:HybridPrivatePublicHeap}
     760% \vspace{10pt}
     761% \input{RemoteFreeList.pstex_t}
     762% \caption{Remote Free-List}
     763% \label{f:RemoteFreeList}
     764% \end{figure}
     765
     766% As mentioned, an implementation may have only one heap interact with the global heap, so the other heap can be simplified.
     767% For example, if only the private heap interacts with the global heap, the public heap can be reduced to a lock-protected free-list of objects deallocated by other threads due to ownership, called a \newterm{remote free-list}.
     768% To avoid heap blowup, the private heap allocates from the remote free-list when it reaches some threshold or it has no free storage.
     769% Since the remote free-list is occasionally cleared during an allocation, this adds to that cost.
     770% Clearing the remote free-list is $O(1)$ if the list can simply be added to the end of the private-heap's free-list, or $O(N)$ if some action must be performed for each freed object.
     771 
     772% If only the public heap interacts with other threads and the global heap, the private heap can handle thread-local allocations and deallocations without locking.
     773% In this scenario, the private heap must deallocate storage after reaching a certain threshold to the public heap (and then eventually to the global heap from the public heap) or heap blowup can occur.
     774% If the public heap does the major management, the private heap can be simplified to provide high-performance thread-local allocations and deallocations.
     775 
     776% The main disadvantage of each thread having both a private and public heap is the complexity of managing two heaps and their interactions in an allocator.
     777% Interestingly, heap implementations often focus on either a private or public heap, giving the impression a single versus a hybrid approach is being used.
     778% In many case, the hybrid approach is actually being used, but the simpler heap is just folded into the complex heap, even though the operations logically belong in separate heaps.
     779% For example, a remote free-list is actually a simple public-heap, but may be implemented as an integral component of the complex private-heap in an allocator, masking the presence of a hybrid approach.
     780
     781
     782\begin{figure}
     783\centering
     784\subfloat[Object Headers]{
     785        \input{ObjectHeaders}
     786        \label{f:ObjectHeaders}
     787} % subfloat
     788\subfloat[Object Container]{
     789        \input{Container}
     790        \label{f:ObjectContainer}
     791} % subfloat
     792\caption{Header Placement}
     793\label{f:HeaderPlacement}
     794\end{figure}
    596795
    597796
     
    599798\label{s:ObjectContainers}
    600799
    601 Associating header data with every allocation can result in significant internal fragmentation, as shown in Figure~\ref{f:AllocatedObject}.
    602 While the header and object are spatially together in memory, they are generally not accessed temporally together~\cite{Feng05}.
    603 The result is poor cache usage, since only a portion of the cache line is holding useful data from the program's perspective.
    604 % \eg an object is accessed by the program after it is allocated, while the header is accessed by the allocator after it is free.
    605 
    606 \begin{figure}
    607 \centering
    608 \input{Container}
    609 \caption{Object Container}
    610 \label{f:ObjectContainer}
    611 \end{figure}
    612 
    613 The alternative approach factors common header data to a separate location in memory and organizes associated free storage into blocks called \newterm{object containers} (\newterm{superblocks}~\cite[\S~3]{Berger00}) suballocated from a heap's allocation buffers, as in Figure~\ref{f:ObjectContainer}.
    614 A trailer may also be used at the end of the container.
    615 To find the header from an allocation within the container, the container is aligned on a power of 2 boundary and the lower bits of the object address are truncated (or rounded up, minus the trailer size, to obtain the trailer address).
    616 Container size is a tradeoff between internal and external fragmentation as some portion of a container may not be used and this portion is unusable for other kinds of allocations.
    617 A consequence of this tradeoff is its effect on spatial locality, which can produce positive or negative results depending on the program's access patterns.
    618 Normally, heap ownership applies to its containers.
    619 Without ownership, different objects in a container may be on different heap free-lists.
    620 Finally, containers are linked together for management purposes, and should all objects in a container become free, the container can be repurposed for different sized objects or given to another heap through a global heap.
    621 
    622 
    623 \subsubsection{Ownership}
    624 \label{s:Ownership}
    625 
    626 Object \newterm{ownership} is defined as the heap to which an object is returned upon deallocation~\cite[\S~6.1]{Berger00}.
    627 If a thread returns an object to its originating heap, a heap has ownership of its objects.
    628 Containers force ownership of internal contiguous objects, unless the entire container changes ownership after it becomes empty.
    629 Alternatively, a thread can return an object to the heap it is currently associated with, which can be any heap accessible during a thread's lifetime.
    630 The advantage of ownership is preventing heap blowup by returning storage for reuse by the owner heap.
    631 Ownership prevents the problem of a producer thread allocating from one heap, passing the object to a consumer thread, and the consumer deallocates the object to another heap, hence draining the producer heap of storage.
    632 The disadvantage of ownership is deallocating to another thread's heap requires an atomic operation.
    633 
    634 Object ownership can be immediate or delayed, meaning free objects may be batched on a separate free list either by the returning or receiving thread.
    635 The returning thread batches objects to reduce contention by passing multiple objects at once;
    636 however, batching across multiple allocation sizes and heaps is complex and there is no obvious time when to push back to the owner heap.
    637 It is simpler for the returning threads to immediately return to the receiving thread's batch list as the receiving thread has better knowledge when to incorporate the batch list into its free pool.
    638 The receiving thread often delays incorporating returned storage until its local storage in drained.
    639 
    640 
    641 \subsubsection{User-Level Threading}
    642 
    643 Any heap model can be used with user-level (M:N) threading.
    644 However, an important goal of user threads (UT) is for fast operations (creation/termination/context-switching) by not interacting with the OS, allowing large numbers of high-performance interacting threads ($>$ 10,000).
    645 In general, UTs use whatever kernel-level heap-model is provided by the language runtime.
    646 Hence, a UT allocates/deallocates from/to the heap of the KT on which it is executing.
    647 
    648 However, there is a subtle concurrency problem with user threading and shared heaps.
    649 With kernel threading, an operation started by a KT is always completed by that thread, even if preempted;
    650 hence, any locking correctness associated with the shared heap is preserved.
    651 However, this correctness property is not preserved for user-level threading.
    652 A UT can start an allocation/deallocation on one KT, be preempted by user-level time slicing, and continue running on a different KT to complete the operation~\cite{Dice02}.
    653 When the UT continues on the new KT, it may have pointers into the previous KT's heap and hold locks associated with it.
    654 To get the same KT safety, time slicing must be disabled/\-enabled around these operations to prevent movement.
    655 However, eagerly disabling time slicing on the allocation/deallocation fast path is expensive, especially as preemption is infrequent (millisecond intervals).
    656 Instead, techniques exist to lazily detect this case in the interrupt handler, abort the preemption, and return to the operation so it completes atomically.
    657 Occasional ignoring a preemption is normally benign;
    658 in the worst case, ignoring preemption results in starvation.
    659 To mitigate starvation, techniques like rolling the preemption forward at the next context switch can be used.
     800Associating header data with every allocation can result in significant internal fragmentation, as shown in Figure~\ref{f:ObjectHeaders}.
     801Especially if the headers contain redundant data, \eg object size may be the same for many objects because programs only allocate a small set of object sizes.
     802As well, the redundant data can result in poor cache usage, since only a portion of the cache line is holding useful data from the program's perspective.
     803Spatial locality can also be negatively affected leading to poor cache locality~\cite{Feng05}.
     804While the header and object are spatially together in memory, they are generally not accessed temporarily together;
     805\eg an object is accessed by the program after it is allocated, while the header is accessed by the allocator after it is free.
     806
     807An alternative approach factors common header data to a separate location in memory and organizes associated free storage into blocks called \newterm{object containers} (\newterm{superblocks}~\cite{Berger00}), as in Figure~\ref{f:ObjectContainer}.
     808The header for the container holds information necessary for all objects in the container;
     809a trailer may also be used at the end of the container.
     810Similar to the approach described for thread heaps in Section~\ref{s:MultipleHeaps}, if container boundaries do not overlap with memory of another container at crucial boundaries and all objects in a container are allocated to the same thread, allocator-induced active false-sharing is avoided.
     811
     812The difficulty with object containers lies in finding the object header/trailer given only the object address, since that is normally the only information passed to the deallocation operation.
     813One way is to start containers on aligned addresses in memory, then truncate the lower bits of the object address to obtain the header address (or round up and subtract the trailer size to obtain the trailer address).
     814For example, if an object at address 0xFC28\,EF08 is freed and containers are aligned on 64\,KB (0x0001\,0000) addresses, then the container header is at 0xFC28\,0000.
     815
     816Normally, a container has homogeneous objects, \eg object size and ownership.
     817This approach greatly reduces internal fragmentation since far fewer headers are required, and potentially increases spatial locality as a cache line or page holds more objects since the objects are closer together.
     818However, different sized objects are further apart in separate containers.
     819Depending on the program, this may or may not improve locality.
     820If the program uses several objects from a small number of containers in its working set, then locality is improved since fewer cache lines and pages are required.
     821If the program uses many containers, there is poor locality, as both caching and paging increase.
     822Another drawback is that external fragmentation may be increased since containers reserve space for objects that may never be allocated, \ie there are often multiple containers for each size only partially full.
     823However, external fragmentation can be reduced by using small containers.
     824
     825Containers with heterogeneous objects implies different headers describing them, which complicates the problem of locating a specific header solely by an address.
     826A couple of solutions can be used to implement containers with heterogeneous objects.
     827However, the problem with allowing objects of different sizes is that the number of objects, and therefore headers, in a single container is unpredictable.
     828One solution allocates headers at one end of the container, while allocating objects from the other end of the container;
     829when the headers meet the objects, the container is full.
     830Freed objects cannot be split or coalesced since this causes the number of headers to change.
     831The difficulty in this strategy remains in finding the header for a specific object;
     832in general, a search is necessary to find the object's header among the container headers.
     833A second solution combines the use of container headers and individual object headers.
     834Each object header stores the object's heterogeneous information, such as its size, while the container header stores the homogeneous information, such as the owner when using ownership.
     835This approach allows containers to hold different types of objects, but does not completely separate headers from objects.
     836% The benefit of the container in this case is to reduce some redundant information that is factored into the container header.
     837
     838% In summary, object containers trade off internal fragmentation for external fragmentation by isolating common administration information to remove/reduce internal fragmentation, but at the cost of external fragmentation as some portion of a container may not be used and this portion is unusable for other kinds of allocations.
     839% A consequence of this tradeoff is its effect on spatial locality, which can produce positive or negative results depending on program access-patterns.
     840
     841
     842\paragraph{Container Ownership}
     843\label{s:ContainerOwnership}
     844
     845Without ownership, objects in a container are deallocated to the heap currently associated with the thread that frees the object.
     846Thus, different objects in a container may be on different heap free-lists. % (see Figure~\ref{f:ContainerNoOwnershipFreelist}).
     847With ownership, all objects in a container belong to the same heap,
     848% (see Figure~\ref{f:ContainerOwnershipFreelist}),
     849so ownership of an object is determined by the container owner.
     850If multiple threads can allocate/free/reallocate adjacent storage in the same heap, all forms of false sharing may occur.
     851Only with the 1:1 model and ownership is active and passive false-sharing avoided (see Section~\ref{s:Ownership}).
     852Passive false-sharing may still occur, if delayed ownership is used.
     853Finally, a completely free container can become reserved storage and be reset to allocate objects of a new size or freed to the global heap.
     854
     855% \begin{figure}
     856% \centering
     857% \subfloat[No Ownership]{
     858%       \input{ContainerNoOwnershipFreelist}
     859%       \label{f:ContainerNoOwnershipFreelist}
     860% } % subfloat
     861% \vrule
     862% \subfloat[Ownership]{
     863%       \input{ContainerOwnershipFreelist}
     864%       \label{f:ContainerOwnershipFreelist}
     865% } % subfloat
     866% \caption{Free-list Structure with Container Ownership}
     867% \end{figure}
     868
     869When a container changes ownership, the ownership of all objects within it change as well.
     870Moving a container involves moving all objects on the heap's free-list in that container to the new owner.
     871This approach can reduce contention for the global heap, since each request for objects from the global heap returns a container rather than individual objects.
     872
     873Additional restrictions may be applied to the movement of containers to prevent active false-sharing.
     874For example, if a container changes ownership through the global heap, then a thread allocating from the newly acquired container is actively false-sharing even though no objects are passed among threads.
     875Note, once the thread frees the object, no more false sharing can occur until the container changes ownership again.
     876To prevent this form of false sharing, container movement may be restricted to when all objects in the container are free.
     877One implementation approach that increases the freedom to return a free container to the OS involves allocating containers using a call like @mmap@, which allows memory at an arbitrary address to be returned versus only storage at the end of the contiguous @sbrk@ area, again pushing storage management complexity back to the OS.
     878
     879% \begin{figure}
     880% \centering
     881% \subfloat[]{
     882%       \input{ContainerFalseSharing1}
     883%       \label{f:ContainerFalseSharing1}
     884% } % subfloat
     885% \subfloat[]{
     886%       \input{ContainerFalseSharing2}
     887%       \label{f:ContainerFalseSharing2}
     888% } % subfloat
     889% \caption{Active False-Sharing using Containers}
     890% \label{f:ActiveFalseSharingContainers}
     891% \end{figure}
     892
     893Using containers with ownership increases external fragmentation since a new container for a requested object size must be allocated separately for each thread requesting it.
     894% In Figure~\ref{f:ExternalFragmentationContainerOwnership}, using object ownership allocates 80\% more space than without ownership.
     895
     896% \begin{figure}
     897% \centering
     898% \subfloat[No Ownership]{
     899%       \input{ContainerNoOwnership}
     900% } % subfloat
     901% \\
     902% \subfloat[Ownership]{
     903%       \input{ContainerOwnership}
     904% } % subfloat
     905% \caption{External Fragmentation with Container Ownership}
     906% \label{f:ExternalFragmentationContainerOwnership}
     907% \end{figure}
     908
     909
     910\paragraph{Container Size}
     911\label{s:ContainerSize}
     912
     913One way to control the external fragmentation caused by allocating a large container for a small number of requested objects is to vary the size of the container.
     914As described earlier, container boundaries need to be aligned on addresses that are a power of two to allow easy location of the header (by truncating lower bits).
     915Aligning containers in this manner also determines the size of the container.
     916However, the size of the container has different implications for the allocator.
     917
     918The larger the container, the fewer containers are needed, and hence, the fewer headers need to be maintained in memory, improving both internal fragmentation and potentially performance.
     919However, with more objects in a container, there may be more objects that are unallocated, increasing external fragmentation.
     920With smaller containers, not only are there more containers, but a second new problem arises where objects are larger than the container.
     921In general, large objects, \eg greater than 64\,KB, are allocated directly from the OS and are returned immediately to the OS to reduce long-term external fragmentation.
     922If the container size is small, \eg 1\,KB, then a 1.5\,KB object is treated as a large object, which is likely to be inappropriate.
     923Ideally, it is best to use smaller containers for smaller objects, and larger containers for medium objects, which leads to the issue of locating the container header.
     924
     925In order to find the container header when using different sized containers, a super container is used (see~Figure~\ref{f:SuperContainers}).
     926The super container spans several containers, contains a header with information for finding each container header, and starts on an aligned address.
     927Super-container headers are found using the same method used to find container headers by dropping the lower bits of an object address.
     928The containers within a super container may be different sizes or all the same size.
     929If the containers in the super container are different sizes, then the super-container header must be searched to determine the specific container for an object given its address.
     930If all containers in the super container are the same size, \eg 16KB, then a specific container header can be found by a simple calculation.
     931The free space at the end of a super container is used to allocate new containers.
     932
     933\begin{figure}
     934\centering
     935\input{SuperContainers}
     936% \includegraphics{diagrams/supercontainer.eps}
     937\caption{Super Containers}
     938\label{f:SuperContainers}
     939\end{figure}
     940
     941Minimal internal and external fragmentation is achieved by having as few containers as possible, each being as full as possible.
     942It is also possible to achieve additional benefit by using larger containers for popular small sizes, as it reduces the number of containers with associated headers.
     943However, this approach assumes it is possible for an allocator to determine in advance which sizes are popular.
     944Keeping statistics on requested sizes allows the allocator to make a dynamic decision about which sizes are popular.
     945For example, after receiving a number of allocation requests for a particular size, that size is considered a popular request size and larger containers are allocated for that size.
     946If the decision is incorrect, larger containers than necessary are allocated that remain mostly unused.
     947A programmer may be able to inform the allocator about popular object sizes, using a mechanism like @mallopt@, in order to select an appropriate container size for each object size.
     948
     949
     950\paragraph{Container Free-Lists}
     951\label{s:containersfreelists}
     952
     953The container header allows an alternate approach for managing the heap's free-list.
     954Rather than maintain a global free-list throughout the heap the containers are linked through their headers and only the local free objects within a container are linked together.
     955Note, maintaining free lists within a container assumes all free objects in the container are associated with the same heap;
     956thus, this approach only applies to containers with ownership.
     957
     958This alternate free-list approach can greatly reduce the complexity of moving all freed objects belonging to a container to another heap.
     959To move a container using a global free-list, the free list is first searched to find all objects within the container.
     960Each object is then removed from the free list and linked together to form a local free-list for the move to the new heap.
     961With local free-lists in containers, the container is simply removed from one heap's free list and placed on the new heap's free list.
     962Thus, when using local free-lists, the operation of moving containers is reduced from $O(N)$ to $O(1)$.
     963However, there is the additional storage cost in the header, which increases the header size, and therefore internal fragmentation.
     964
     965% \begin{figure}
     966% \centering
     967% \subfloat[Global Free-List Among Containers]{
     968%       \input{FreeListAmongContainers}
     969%       \label{f:GlobalFreeListAmongContainers}
     970% } % subfloat
     971% \hspace{0.25in}
     972% \subfloat[Local Free-List Within Containers]{
     973%       \input{FreeListWithinContainers}
     974%       \label{f:LocalFreeListWithinContainers}
     975% } % subfloat
     976% \caption{Container Free-List Structure}
     977% \label{f:ContainerFreeListStructure}
     978% \end{figure}
     979
     980When all objects in the container are the same size, a single free-list is sufficient.
     981However, when objects in the container are different size, the header needs a free list for each size class when using a binning allocation algorithm, which can be a significant increase in the container-header size.
     982The alternative is to use a different allocation algorithm with a single free-list, such as a sequential-fit allocation-algorithm.
     983
     984
     985\subsubsection{Allocation Buffer}
     986\label{s:AllocationBuffer}
     987
     988An allocation buffer is reserved memory (see Section~\ref{s:AllocatorComponents}) not yet allocated to the program, and is used for allocating objects when the free list is empty.
     989That is, rather than requesting new storage for a single object, an entire buffer is requested from which multiple objects are allocated later.
     990Any heap may use an allocation buffer, resulting in allocation from the buffer before requesting objects (containers) from the global heap or OS, respectively.
     991The allocation buffer reduces contention and the number of global/OS calls.
     992For coalescing, a buffer is split into smaller objects by allocations, and recomposed into larger buffer areas during deallocations.
     993
     994Allocation buffers are useful initially when there are no freed objects in a heap because many allocations usually occur when a thread starts (simple bump allocation).
     995Furthermore, to prevent heap blowup, objects should be reused before allocating a new allocation buffer.
     996Thus, allocation buffers are often allocated more frequently at program/thread start, and then allocations often diminish.
     997
     998Using an allocation buffer with a thread heap avoids active false-sharing, since all objects in the allocation buffer are allocated to the same thread.
     999For example, if all objects sharing a cache line come from the same allocation buffer, then these objects are allocated to the same thread, avoiding active false-sharing.
     1000Active false-sharing may still occur if objects are freed to the global heap and reused by another heap.
     1001
     1002Allocation buffers may increase external fragmentation, since some memory in the allocation buffer may never be allocated.
     1003A smaller allocation buffer reduces the amount of external fragmentation, but increases the number of calls to the global heap or OS.
     1004The allocation buffer also slightly increases internal fragmentation, since a pointer is necessary to locate the next free object in the buffer.
     1005
     1006The unused part of a container, neither allocated or freed, is an allocation buffer.
     1007For example, when a container is created, rather than placing all objects within the container on the free list, the objects form an allocation buffer and are allocated from the buffer as allocation requests are made.
     1008This lazy method of constructing objects is beneficial in terms of paging and caching.
     1009For example, although an entire container, possibly spanning several pages, is allocated from the OS, only a small part of the container is used in the working set of the allocator, reducing the number of pages and cache lines that are brought into higher levels of cache.
     1010
     1011
     1012\subsubsection{Lock-Free Operations}
     1013\label{s:LockFreeOperations}
     1014
     1015A \newterm{lock-free algorithm} guarantees safe concurrent-access to a data structure, so that at least one thread makes progress, but an individual thread has no execution bound and may starve~\cite[pp.~745--746]{Herlihy93}.
     1016(A \newterm{wait-free algorithm} puts a bound on the number of steps any thread takes to complete an operation to prevent starvation.)
     1017Lock-free operations can be used in an allocator to reduce or eliminate the use of locks.
     1018While locks and lock-free data-structures often have equal performance, lock-free has the advantage of not holding a lock across preemption so other threads can continue to make progress.
     1019With respect to the heap, these situations are unlikely unless all threads make extremely high use of dynamic-memory allocation, which can be an indication of poor design.
     1020Nevertheless, lock-free algorithms can reduce the number of context switches, since a thread does not yield/block while waiting for a lock;
     1021on the other hand, a thread may busy-wait for an unbounded period holding a processor.
     1022Finally, lock-free implementations have greater complexity and hardware dependency.
     1023Lock-free algorithms can be applied most easily to simple free-lists, \eg remote free-list, to allow lock-free insertion and removal from the head of a stack.
     1024Implementing lock-free operations for more complex data-structures (queue~\cite{Valois94}/deque~\cite{Sundell08}) is correspondingly more complex.
     1025Michael~\cite{Michael04} and Gidenstam \etal \cite{Gidenstam05} have created lock-free variations of the Hoard allocator.
    6601026
    6611027
    6621028\section{llheap}
    6631029
    664 This section presents our new stand-alone, concurrent, low-latency memory allocator, called llheap (low-latency heap), fulfilling the GNU C Library allocator API~\cite{GNUallocAPI} for C/\CC programs using KTs, with specialized versions for the programming languages \uC and \CFA using user-level threads running over multiple KTs (M:N threading).
    665 The primary design objective for llheap is low latency across all allocator calls independent of application access-patterns and/or number of threads, \ie very seldom does the allocator delay during an allocator call.
    666 Excluded from the low-latency objective are (large) allocations requiring initialization, \eg zero fill, and/or data copying, along with unbounded delays to acquire storage from the OS or OS scheduling, all of which are outside the allocator's purview.
     1030This section presents our new stand-alone, concurrent, low-latency memory-allocator, called llheap (low-latency heap), fulfilling the GNU C Library allocator API~\cite{GNUallocAPI} for C/\CC programs using kernel threads (1:1 threading), with specialized versions for the programming languages \uC and \CFA using user-level threads running over multiple kernel threads (M:N threading).
     1031The primary design objective for llheap is low-latency across all allocator calls independent of application access-patterns and/or number of threads, \ie very seldom does the allocator delay during an allocator call.
     1032Excluded from the low-latency objective are (large) allocations requiring initialization, \eg zero fill, and/or data copying, which are outside the allocator's purview.
    6671033A direct consequence of this objective is very simple or no storage coalescing;
    6681034hence, llheap's design is willing to use more storage to lower latency.
    669 This objective is apropos because systems research and industrial applications are striving for low latency and modern computers have huge amounts of RAM.
    670 Finally, llheap's performance must be comparable with current allocators, both in space and time (see performance comparison in Section~\ref{c:Performance}).
    671 
    672 
    673 \subsection{llheap Design}
    674 
    675 Figure~\ref{f:llheapDesign} shows the design of llheap, which uses the following features:
    676 1:1 allocator model eliminating locking on the fast path,
    677 separate small (@sbrk@) and large object management (@mmap@),
     1035This objective is apropos because systems research and industrial applications are striving for low latency and modern computers have huge amounts of RAM memory.
     1036Finally, llheap's performance should be comparable with the current best allocators, both in space and time (see performance comparison in Section~\ref{c:Performance}).
     1037
     1038
     1039\subsection{Design Choices}
     1040
     1041llheap's design was reviewed and changed multiple times during its development, with the final choices discussed here.
     1042All designs focused on the allocation/free \newterm{fastpath}, \ie the shortest code path for the most common operations, \eg when an allocation can immediately return free storage or returned storage is not coalesced.
     1043The model chosen is 1:1, so there is one thread-local heap for each KT.
     1044(See Figure~\ref{f:THSharedHeaps} but with a heap bucket per KT and no bucket or local-pool lock.)
     1045Hence, immediately after a KT starts, its heap is created and just before a KT terminates, its heap is (logically) deleted.
     1046Therefore, heaps are uncontended for a KTs memory operations as every KT has its own thread-local heap, modulo operations on the global pool and ownership.
     1047
     1048Problems:
     1049\begin{itemize}[topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
     1050\item
     1051Need to know when a KT starts/terminates to create/delete its heap.
     1052
     1053\noindent
     1054It is possible to leverage constructors/destructors for thread-local objects to get a general handle on when a KT starts/terminates.
     1055\item
     1056There is a classic \newterm{memory-reclamation} problem for ownership because storage passed to another thread can be returned to a terminated heap.
     1057
     1058\noindent
     1059The classic solution only deletes a heap after all referents are returned, which is complex.
     1060The cheap alternative is for heaps to persist for program duration to handle outstanding referent frees.
     1061If old referents return storage to a terminated heap, it is handled in the same way as an active heap.
     1062To prevent heap blowup, terminated heaps can be reused by new KTs, where a reused heap may be populated with free storage from a prior KT (external fragmentation).
     1063In most cases, heap blowup is not a problem because programs have a small allocation set-size, so the free storage from a prior KT is apropos for a new KT.
     1064\item
     1065There can be significant external fragmentation as the number of KTs increases.
     1066
     1067\noindent
     1068In many concurrent applications, good performance is achieved with the number of KTs proportional to the number of CPUs.
     1069Since the number of CPUs is relatively small, and a heap is also relatively small, $\approx$10K bytes (not including any associated freed storage), the worst-case external fragmentation is still small compared to the RAM available on large servers with many CPUs.
     1070\item
     1071Need to prevent preemption during a dynamic memory operation because of the \newterm{serially-reusable problem}.
     1072\begin{quote}
     1073A sequence of code that is guaranteed to run to completion before being invoked to accept another input is called serially-reusable code.~\cite{SeriallyReusable}\label{p:SeriallyReusable}
     1074\end{quote}
     1075If a KT is preempted during an allocation operation, the OS can schedule another KT on the same CPU, which can begin an allocation operation before the previous operation associated with this CPU has completed, invalidating heap correctness.
     1076Note, the serially-reusable problem can occur in sequential programs with preemption, if the signal handler calls the preempted function, unless the function is serially reusable.
     1077Essentially, the serially-reusable problem is a race condition on an unprotected critical subsection, where the OS is providing the second thread via the signal handler.
     1078
     1079Library @librseq@~\cite{librseq} was used to perform a fast determination of the CPU and to ensure all memory operations complete on one CPU using @librseq@'s restartable sequences, which restart the critical subsection after undoing its writes, if the critical subsection is preempted.
     1080
     1081%There is the same serially-reusable problem with UTs migrating across KTs.
     1082\end{itemize}
     1083Tests showed this design produced the closest performance match with the best current allocators, and code inspection showed most of these allocators use different variations of this approach.
     1084
     1085
     1086\vspace{5pt}
     1087\noindent
     1088The conclusion from this design exercise is: any atomic fence, atomic instruction (lock free), or lock along the allocation fastpath produces significant slowdown.
     1089For the T:1 and T:H models, locking must exist along the allocation fastpath because the buckets or heaps might be shared by multiple threads, even when KTs $\le$ N.
     1090For the T:H=CPU and 1:1 models, locking is eliminated along the allocation fastpath.
     1091However, T:H=CPU has poor OS support to determine the CPU id (heap id) and prevent the serially-reusable problem for KTs.
     1092More OS support is required to make this model viable, but there is still the serially-reusable problem with user-level threading.
     1093So the 1:1 model had no atomic actions along the fastpath and no special OS support requirements.
     1094The 1:1 model still has the serially-reusable problem with user-level threading, which is addressed in Section~\ref{s:UserlevelThreadingSupport}, and the greatest potential for heap blowup for certain allocation patterns.
     1095
     1096
     1097% \begin{itemize}
     1098% \item
     1099% A decentralized design is better to centralized design because their concurrency is better across all bucket-sizes as design 1 shards a few buckets of selected sizes while other designs shards all the buckets. Decentralized designs shard the whole heap which has all the buckets with the addition of sharding @sbrk@ area. So Design 1 was eliminated.
     1100% \item
     1101% Design 2 was eliminated because it has a possibility of contention in-case of KT > N while Design 3 and 4 have no contention in any scenario.
     1102% \item
     1103% Design 3 was eliminated because it was slower than Design 4 and it provided no way to achieve user-threading safety using librseq. We had to use CFA interruption handling to achieve user-threading safety which has some cost to it.
     1104% that  because of 4 was already slower than Design 3, adding cost of interruption handling on top of that would have made it even slower.
     1105% \end{itemize}
     1106% Of the four designs for a low-latency memory allocator, the 1:1 model was chosen for the following reasons:
     1107
     1108% \subsubsection{Advantages of distributed design}
     1109%
     1110% The distributed design of llheap is concurrent to work in multi-threaded applications.
     1111% Some key benefits of the distributed design of llheap are as follows:
     1112% \begin{itemize}
     1113% \item
     1114% The bump allocation is concurrent as memory taken from @sbrk@ is sharded across all heaps as bump allocation reserve. The call to @sbrk@ will be protected using locks but bump allocation (on memory taken from @sbrk@) will not be contended once the @sbrk@ call has returned.
     1115% \item
     1116% Low or almost no contention on heap resources.
     1117% \item
     1118% It is possible to use sharing and stealing techniques to share/find unused storage, when a free list is unused or empty.
     1119% \item
     1120% Distributed design avoids unnecessary locks on resources shared across all KTs.
     1121% \end{itemize}
     1122
     1123\subsubsection{Allocation Latency}
     1124
     1125A primary goal of llheap is low latency, hence the name low-latency heap (llheap).
     1126Two forms of latency are internal and external.
     1127Internal latency is the time to perform an allocation, while external latency is time to obtain or return storage from or to the OS.
     1128Ideally latency is $O(1)$ with a small constant.
     1129
     1130$O(1)$ internal latency means no open searching on the allocation fastpath, which largely prohibits coalescing.
     1131The mitigating factor is that most programs have a small, fixed, allocation pattern, where the majority of allocation operations can be $O(1)$ and heap blowup does not occur without coalescing (although the allocation footprint may be slightly larger).
     1132Modern computers have large memories so a slight increase in program footprint is not a problem.
     1133
     1134$O(1)$ external latency means obtaining one large storage area from the OS and subdividing it across all program allocations, which requires a good guess at the program storage high-watermark and potential large external fragmentation.
     1135Excluding real-time OSs, OS operations are unbounded, and hence some external latency is unavoidable.
     1136The mitigating factor is that OS calls can often be reduced if a programmer has a sense of the storage high-watermark and the allocator is capable of using this information (see @malloc_expansion@ \pageref{p:malloc_expansion}).
     1137Furthermore, while OS calls are unbounded, many are now reasonably fast, so their latency is tolerable because it occurs infrequently.
     1138
     1139
     1140%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     1141
     1142\subsection{llheap Structure}
     1143
     1144Figure~\ref{f:llheapStructure} shows the design of llheap, which uses the following features:
     11451:1 multiple-heap model to minimize the fastpath,
     1146can be built with or without heap ownership,
    6781147headers per allocation versus containers,
    679 small object binning (buckets) forming lists for different sized freed objects,
     1148no coalescing to minimize latency,
     1149global heap memory (pool) obtained from the OS using @mmap@ to create and reuse heaps needed by threads,
     1150local reserved memory (pool) per heap obtained from global pool,
     1151global reserved memory (pool) obtained from the OS using @sbrk@ call,
    6801152optional fast-lookup table for converting allocation requests into bucket sizes,
    681 no coalescing to minimize latency,
    682 optional heap ownership (build time),
    683 reserved memory (buffer pool) per heap obtained from a global pool,
    684 global heap managing freed thread heaps and interacting with the OS to obtained storage,
    685 optional statistic-counters table for accumulating counts of allocation operations and a debugging version for testing (build time).
     1153optional statistic-counters table for accumulating counts of allocation operations.
    6861154
    6871155\begin{figure}
     
    6891157% \includegraphics[width=0.65\textwidth]{figures/NewHeapStructure.eps}
    6901158\input{llheap}
    691 \caption{llheap Design}
    692 \label{f:llheapDesign}
    693 \end{figure}
    694 
    695 llheap starts by creating an empty array for $N$ global heaps from storage obtained using @mmap@ that persists for program duration, where $N$ is the number of computer cores.
    696 There is a global last-array pointer and bump-pointer within this array to locate the next free heap storage.
    697 When an array's storage is exhausted, another empty array is allocated.
    698 Terminated threads push their heap onto a global-stack top-pointer, where free heaps are intrusively linked.
    699 When statistics are turned on, there is a global top pointer for a intrusive linked-list to link \emph{all} the heaps (not shown), which is traversed to accumulate statistics counters across heaps when @malloc_stats@ is called.
    700 
    701 When a KT starts, it pops heap storage from the heap free-list, or if empty, gets the next free heap-storage.
    702 When a KT terminates, its heap is pushed onto the heap free-list for reuse by a new KT, which prevents unbounded heap growth.
    703 The free heaps are stored in a stack so hot storage is reused first.
    704 Preserving all heaps created during the program lifetime solves the storage lifetime problem when ownership is used.
    705 This approach wastes storage if a large number of KTs are created/terminated at program start and then the program continues sequentially, which is rare.
    706 
    707 Each heap uses segregated free-buckets that have free objects distributed across 60 different sizes from 16 to 16M.
    708 All objects in a bucket are the same size.
    709 The number of buckets used is determined dynamically depending on the crossover point from @sbrk@ to @mmap@ allocation, which is specified by calling @mallopt( M_MMAP_THRESHOLD )@, where the cross over must be $\ge$ the page size or $\le$ the largest bucket (16M).
    710 Each cache-aligned bucket has a stack of the same-sized freed objects, where a stack ensures hot storage is reused first.
     1159\caption{llheap Structure}
     1160\label{f:llheapStructure}
     1161\end{figure}
     1162
     1163llheap starts by creating an array of $N$ global heaps from storage obtained using @mmap@, where $N$ is the number of computer cores, that persists for program duration.
     1164There is a global bump-pointer to the next free heap in the array.
     1165When this array is exhausted, another array of heaps is allocated.
     1166There is a global top pointer for a intrusive linked-list to chain free heaps from terminated threads.
     1167When statistics are turned on, there is a global top pointer for a intrusive linked-list to chain \emph{all} the heaps, which is traversed to accumulate statistics counters across heaps using @malloc_stats@.
     1168
     1169When a KT starts, a heap is allocated from the current array for exclusive use by the KT.
     1170When a KT terminates, its heap is chained onto the heap free-list for reuse by a new KT, which prevents unbounded growth of number of heaps.
     1171The free heaps are stored on stack so hot storage is reused first.
     1172Preserving all heaps, created during the program lifetime, solves the storage lifetime problem when ownership is used.
     1173This approach wastes storage if a large number of KTs are created/terminated at program start and then the program continues sequentially.
    7111174llheap can be configured with object ownership, where an object is freed to the heap from which it is allocated, or object no-ownership, where an object is freed to the KT's current heap.
    712 For ownership, a shared remote stack is added to the freelist structure, so push/pop operations require locking.
    713 Pushes are eager on each remove free \vs batching, and pops are lazy when there is no cheap storage available, then the entire remote stack is gulped and added to the bucket's free list.
    714 
    715 Initial threads are assigned empty heaps from the heap array.
    716 The first thread allocation causes a request for storage from the shared @sbrk@ area.
    717 The size of this request is the maximum of the request size or the @sbrk@-extension-size / 16.
    718 This heuristic means the @sbrk@ area is subdivided into separate heap buffers (HB) per thread, providing no contention and data locality.
    719 A thread does bump allocation in its current buffer, until it starts reusing freed storage or there is insufficient storage, and it obtains another buffer.
    720 Thread buffers are not linked;
    721 only logically connected to the thread through allocated and deallocated storage.
    722 When a thread ends, its heap is returned to the heap array but no storage is released.
    723 A new thread receiving a freed heap starts with it fully populated with freed storage.
    724 The heuristic is that threads often do similar work, so the free storage in the heap is reusable, resulting in less internal fragmentation.
    725 %The heuristic is that threads often do similar work so the free storage in the heap is immediately available.
    726 %The downside is the risk of more external fragmentation, if the freed storage is never reused.
    727 The downside is if the freed storage is never reused creating external fragmentation.
     1175
     1176Each heap uses segregated free-buckets that have free objects distributed across 91 different sizes from 16 to 4M.
     1177All objects in a bucket are of the same size.
     1178The number of buckets used is determined dynamically depending on the crossover point from @sbrk@ to @mmap@ allocation using @mallopt( M_MMAP_THRESHOLD )@, \ie small objects managed by the program and large objects managed by the OS.
     1179Each free bucket of a specific size has two lists.
     11801) A free stack used solely by the KT heap-owner, so push/pop operations do not require locking.
     1181The free objects are a stack so hot storage is reused first.
     11822) For ownership, a shared away-stack for KTs to return storage allocated by other KTs, so push/pop operations require locking.
     1183When the free stack is empty, the entire ownership stack is removed and becomes the head of the corresponding free stack.
    7281184
    7291185Algorithm~\ref{alg:heapObjectAlloc} shows the allocation outline for an object of size $S$.
    730 The allocation is divided into small (@sbrk@) or large (@mmap@).
     1186First, the allocation is divided into small (@sbrk@) or large (@mmap@).
     1187For large allocations, the storage is mapped directly from the OS.
    7311188For small allocations, $S$ is quantized into a bucket size.
    732 Quantizing is performed using a direct lookup for sizes < 64K or a binary search over the ordered bucket array for $S$ $\ge$ 64K.
    733 Then, the allocation storage is obtained from the following locations, in order of increasing latency: the bucket's free stack, the heap's local buffer, the bucket's remote stack, the global buffer, the OS (@sbrk@).
    734 For large allocations, the storage is directly allocated from the OS using @mmap@.
    735 
    736 \begin{algorithm}[t]
    737 \caption{Dynamic object allocation of size $S$}
    738 \label{alg:heapObjectAlloc}
    739 \begin{algorithmic}
    740 \STATE $S \gets S + \text{header-size}$
    741 \IF {$S < \textit{mmap-threshhold}$}
    742         \STATE $\textit{B} \gets \text{smallest free-bucket} \geq S$
    743         \IF {$\textit{B's free-list \(\neg\)empty}$}
    744                 \STATE $\textit{O} \gets \text{pop an object from B's free-list}$
    745         \ELSIF {$\textit{heap's allocation buffer} \ge B$}
    746                 \STATE $\textit{O} \gets \text{bump allocate object of size B from allocation buffer}$
    747         \ELSIF {$\textit{heap's remote-list \(\neg\)empty}$}
    748                 \STATE $\textit{merge heap's remote-list into free-list}$
    749                 \STATE $\textit{O} \gets \text{pop an object from B's free-list}$
    750         \ELSE
    751                 \STATE $\textit{O} \gets \text{allocate an object of size B from global pool}$
    752         \ENDIF
    753 \ELSE
    754         \STATE $\textit{O} \gets \text{allocate an object of size S using \lstinline{mmap} system-call}$
    755 \ENDIF
    756 \RETURN $\textit{O}$
     1189Quantizing is performed using a binary search over the ordered bucket array.
     1190An optional optimization is fast lookup $O(1)$ for sizes < 64K from a 64K array of type @char@, where each element has an index to the corresponding bucket.
     1191The @char@ type restricts the number of bucket sizes to 256.
     1192For $S$ > 64K, a binary search is used.
     1193Then, the allocation storage is obtained from the following locations (in order), with increasing latency:
     1194bucket's free stack,
     1195bucket's away stack,
     1196heap's local pool,
     1197global pool,
     1198OS (@sbrk@).
     1199
     1200\begin{algorithm}
     1201\caption{Dynamic object allocation of size $S$}\label{alg:heapObjectAlloc}
     1202\begin{algorithmic}[1]
     1203\State $\textit{O} \gets \text{NULL}$
     1204\If {$S >= \textit{mmap-threshhold}$}
     1205        \State $\textit{O} \gets \text{allocate dynamic memory using system call mmap with size S}$
     1206\Else
     1207        \State $\textit{B} \gets \text{smallest free-bucket} \geq S$
     1208        \If {$\textit{B's free-list is empty}$}
     1209                \If {$\textit{B's away-list is empty}$}
     1210                        \If {$\textit{heap's allocation buffer} < S$}
     1211                                \State $\text{get allocation from global pool (which might call \lstinline{sbrk})}$
     1212                        \EndIf
     1213                        \State $\textit{O} \gets \text{bump allocate an object of size S from allocation buffer}$
     1214                \Else
     1215                        \State $\textit{merge B's away-list into free-list}$
     1216                        \State $\textit{O} \gets \text{pop an object from B's free-list}$
     1217                \EndIf
     1218        \Else
     1219                \State $\textit{O} \gets \text{pop an object from B's free-list}$
     1220        \EndIf
     1221        \State $\textit{O's owner} \gets \text{B}$
     1222\EndIf
     1223\State $\Return \textit{ O}$
    7571224\end{algorithmic}
    7581225\end{algorithm}
    7591226
     1227\begin{algorithm}
     1228\caption{Dynamic object free at address $A$ with object ownership}\label{alg:heapObjectFreeOwn}
     1229\begin{algorithmic}[1]
     1230\If {$\textit{A mapped allocation}$}
     1231        \State $\text{return A's dynamic memory to system using system call \lstinline{munmap}}$
     1232\Else
     1233        \State $\text{B} \gets \textit{O's owner}$
     1234        \If {$\textit{B is thread-local heap's bucket}$}
     1235                \State $\text{push A to B's free-list}$
     1236        \Else
     1237                \State $\text{push A to B's away-list}$
     1238        \EndIf
     1239\EndIf
     1240\end{algorithmic}
     1241\end{algorithm}
     1242
     1243\begin{algorithm}
     1244\caption{Dynamic object free at address $A$ without object ownership}\label{alg:heapObjectFreeNoOwn}
     1245\begin{algorithmic}[1]
     1246\If {$\textit{A mapped allocation}$}
     1247        \State $\text{return A's dynamic memory to system using system call \lstinline{munmap}}$
     1248\Else
     1249        \State $\text{B} \gets \textit{O's owner}$
     1250        \If {$\textit{B is thread-local heap's bucket}$}
     1251                \State $\text{push A to B's free-list}$
     1252        \Else
     1253                \State $\text{C} \gets \textit{thread local heap's bucket with same size as B}$
     1254                \State $\text{push A to C's free-list}$
     1255        \EndIf
     1256\EndIf
     1257\end{algorithmic}
     1258\end{algorithm}
     1259
     1260
    7601261Algorithm~\ref{alg:heapObjectFreeOwn} shows the deallocation (free) outline for an object at address $A$ with ownership.
    7611262First, the address is divided into small (@sbrk@) or large (@mmap@).
    762 For small allocations, the bucket associated with the request size is retrieved from the allocation header.
     1263For large allocations, the storage is unmapped back to the OS.
     1264For small allocations, the bucket associated with the request size is retrieved.
    7631265If the bucket is local to the thread, the allocation is pushed onto the thread's associated bucket.
    764 If the bucket is not local to the thread, the allocation is pushed onto the owning thread's remote stack.
    765 For large allocations, the storage is unmapped back to the OS.
    766 Without object ownership, the algorithm is the same as for ownership except when the bucket is not local to the thread.
    767 In that case, the corresponding bucket of the owner thread is computed by the deallocating thread, and the allocation is pushed onto the deallocating thread's corresponding bucket, \ie no search is required.
    768 
    769 \begin{algorithm}[t]
    770 \caption{Dynamic object free at address $A$ with object ownership}
    771 \label{alg:heapObjectFreeOwn}
    772 \begin{algorithmic}
    773 \IF {$\textit{A heap allocation}$}
    774         \STATE $\text{B} \gets \textit{O's owner}$
    775         \IF {$\textit{B's thread = current heap thread}$}
    776                 \STATE $\text{push A to B's free-list}$
    777         \ELSE
    778                 \STATE $\text{push A to B's remote-list}$
    779         \ENDIF
    780 \ELSE
    781         \STATE $\text{return A to system using system call \lstinline{munmap}}$
    782 \ENDIF
    783 \end{algorithmic}
    784 \end{algorithm}
    785 
    786 \begin{comment}
    787 \begin{algorithm}
    788 \caption{Dynamic object free at address $A$ without object ownership}
    789 \label{alg:heapObjectFreeNoOwn}
    790 \begin{algorithmic}[1]
    791 \IF {$\textit{A mapped allocation}$}
    792         \STATE $\text{return A's dynamic memory to system using system call \lstinline{munmap}}$
    793 \ELSE
    794         \STATE $\text{B} \gets \textit{O's owner}$
    795         \IF {$\textit{B is thread-local heap's bucket}$}
    796                 \STATE $\text{push A to B's free-list}$
    797         \ELSE
    798                 \STATE $\text{C} \gets \textit{thread local heap's bucket with same size as B}$
    799                 \STATE $\text{push A to C's free-list}$
    800         \ENDIF
    801 \ENDIF
    802 \end{algorithmic}
    803 \end{algorithm}
    804 \end{comment}
    805 
    806 Finally, the llheap design funnels all allocation/deallocation operations through the @malloc@ and @free@ routines, which are the only routines to directly access and manage the internal data structures of the heap.
     1266If the bucket is not local to the thread, the allocation is pushed onto the owning thread's associated away stack.
     1267
     1268Algorithm~\ref{alg:heapObjectFreeNoOwn} shows the deallocation (free) outline for an object at address $A$ without ownership.
     1269The algorithm is the same as for ownership except if the bucket is not local to the thread.
     1270Then the corresponding bucket of the owner thread is computed for the deallocating thread, and the allocation is pushed onto the deallocating thread's bucket.
     1271
     1272Finally, the llheap design funnels \label{p:FunnelRoutine} all allocation/deallocation operations through the @malloc@ and @free@ routines, which are the only routines to directly access and manage the internal data structures of the heap.
    8071273Other allocation operations, \eg @calloc@, @memalign@, and @realloc@, are composed of calls to @malloc@ and possibly @free@, and may manipulate header information after storage is allocated.
    8081274This design simplifies heap-management code during development and maintenance.
    8091275
    8101276
    811 \subsubsection{Bounded Allocation}
    812 
    813 The llheap design results in bounded allocation.
    814 For small allocations, once all the buckets have freed objects, storage is recycled.
    815 For large allocations, the storage is directly recycled back to the OS.
    816 When a thread terminates, its heap is recycled to the next new thread and the above process begins for that thread.
    817 The pathological case is threads allocating a large amount of storage, freeing it, and then quiescing, which demonstrates that the bound constant can be large.
    818 This pathological pattern occurs for \emph{immortal} threads, \eg I/O threads with program lifetime and bursts of activity performing many allocations/deallocations.
    819 Hence, independent of external fragmentation in thread heaps, storage cannot grow unbounded unless the program does not free.
    820 
    821 
    8221277\subsubsection{Alignment}
    8231278
    824 The minimum storage alignment $M$ comes from the architecture application-binary-interface (ABI) based on hardware factors: bus width (32 or 64-bit), largest register (double, long double), largest atomic instruction (double compare-and-swap), or vector data (Intel MMX).
    825 An access with a nonaligned address maybe slow or an error.
    826 A memory allocator must assume the largest hardware requirement because it is unaware of the data type occupying the allocation.
    827 Often the minimum storage alignment is an 8/16-byte boundary on a 32/64-bit computer, respectively.
    828 Alignments larger than $M$ are powers of 2, such as page alignment (4/8K).
     1279Allocators have a different minimum storage alignment from the hardware's basic types.
     1280Often the minimum allocator alignment, $M$, is the bus width (32 or 64-bit), the largest register (double, long double), largest atomic instruction (DCAS), or vector data (MMMX).
     1281The reason for this larger requirement is the lack of knowledge about the data type occupying the allocation.
     1282Hence, an allocator assumes the worst-case scenario for the start of data and the compiler correctly aligns items within this data because it knows their types.
     1283Often the minimum storage alignment is an 8/16-byte boundary on a 32/64-bit computer.
     1284Alignments larger than $M$ are normally a power of 2, such as page alignment (4/8K).
    8291285Any alignment less than $M$ is raised to the minimal alignment.
    8301286
    831 llheap aligns its allocation header on an $M$ boundary and its size is $M$, making the following data $M$ aligned.
    832 This pattern means there is no minimal alignment computation along the allocation fast path, \ie new storage and reused storage is always correctly aligned.
    833 An alignment $N$ greater than $M$ is accomplished with a \emph{pessimistic} request for storage that ensures \emph{both} the alignment and size request are satisfied.
     1287llheap aligns its header at the $M$ boundary and its size is $M$;
     1288hence, data following the header is aligned at $M$.
     1289This pattern means there is no minimal alignment computation along the allocation fastpath, \ie new storage and reused storage is always correctly aligned.
     1290An alignment $N$ greater than $M$ is accomplished with a \emph{pessimistic} request for storage that ensures \emph{both} the alignment and size request are satisfied, \eg:
    8341291\begin{center}
    8351292\input{Alignment2}
     
    8381295The approach is pessimistic if $P$ happens to have the correct alignment $N$, and the initial allocation has requested sufficient space to move to the next multiple of $N$.
    8391296In this case, there is $alignment - M$ bytes of unused storage after the data object, which could be used by @realloc@.
    840 Note, the address returned by the allocation is $A$, which is subsequently returned for deallocation.
    841 However, the deallocation requires the value $P$, which must be computable from $A$, from which $H$ can be computed $P - M$.
    842 Hence, there must be a mechanism to detect $P$ $\neq$ $A$ and compute $P$ from $A$.
     1297Note, the address returned by the allocation is $A$, which is subsequently returned to @free@.
     1298To correctly free the object, the value $P$ must be computable from $A$, since that is the actual start of the allocation, from which $H$ can be computed $P - M$.
     1299Hence, there must be a mechanism to detect when $P$ $\neq$ $A$ and then compute $P$ from $A$.
    8431300
    8441301To detect and perform this computation, llheap uses two headers:
    845 the \emph{original} header $H$ associated with the allocation, and a \emph{fake} header $F$ within this storage before the alignment boundary $A$.
     1302the \emph{original} header $H$ associated with the allocation, and a \emph{fake} header $F$ within this storage before the alignment boundary $A$, e.g.:
    8461303\begin{center}
    8471304\input{Alignment2Impl}
    8481305\end{center}
    8491306Since every allocation is aligned at $M$, $P$ $\neq$ $A$ only holds for alignments greater than $M$.
    850 When $P$ $\neq$ $A$, the minimum distance between $P$ and $A$ is $M$ bytes, due to the pessimistic storage allocation.
     1307When $P$ $\neq$ $A$, the minimum distance between $P$ and $A$ is $M$ bytes, due to the pessimistic storage-allocation.
    8511308Therefore, there is always room for an $M$-byte fake header before $A$.
    8521309The fake header must supply an indicator to distinguish it from a normal header and the location of address $P$ generated by the allocation.
    853 This information is encoded as an offset from A to P and the initial alignment (discussed in Section~\ref{s:ReallocStickyProperties}).
    854 To distinguish a fake header from a normal header, the least-significant bit of the alignment is set to 1 because the offset participates in multiple calculations, while the alignment is just remembered data.
     1310This information is encoded as an offset from A to P and the initialize alignment (discussed in Section~\ref{s:ReallocStickyProperties}).
     1311To distinguish a fake header from a normal header, the least-significant bit of the alignment is used because the offset participates in multiple calculations, while the alignment is just remembered data.
    8551312\begin{center}
    8561313\input{FakeHeader}
    8571314\end{center}
    8581315
    859 Note, doing alignment with containers requires a separate container for the aligned fixed-sized objects, so there are more kinds of containers that must be managed.
    860 
    8611316
    8621317\subsubsection{\lstinline{realloc} and Sticky Properties}
    8631318\label{s:ReallocStickyProperties}
    8641319
    865 The allocation routine @realloc@ provides a memory management pattern for shrinking/enlarging an existing allocation, while maintaining some or all of the object data.
    866 The realloc pattern is simpler than the suboptimal manual steps.
     1320The allocation routine @realloc@ provides a memory-management pattern for shrinking/enlarging an existing allocation, while maintaining some or all of the object data.
     1321The realloc pattern is simpler than the suboptimal manually steps.
    8671322\begin{flushleft}
    868 \setlength{\tabcolsep}{10pt}
    8691323\begin{tabular}{ll}
    870 \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{realloc pattern}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{manual}} \\
    871 \begin{C++}
     1324\multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{realloc pattern}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{manually}} \\
     1325\begin{lstlisting}
    8721326T * naddr = realloc( oaddr, newSize );
    8731327
    8741328
    8751329
    876 \end{C++}
     1330\end{lstlisting}
    8771331&
    878 \begin{C++}
     1332\begin{lstlisting}
    8791333T * naddr = (T *)malloc( newSize ); $\C[2in]{// new storage}$
    8801334memcpy( naddr, addr, oldSize );  $\C{// copy old bytes}$
    8811335free( addr );                           $\C{// free old storage}$
    8821336addr = naddr;                           $\C{// change pointer}\CRT$
    883 \end{C++}
     1337\end{lstlisting}
    8841338\end{tabular}
    8851339\end{flushleft}
    886 The manual steps are suboptimal because there may be internal fragmentation at the end of the allocation due to bucket sizes.
    887 If this storage is sufficiently large, it eliminates a new allocation and copying.
     1340The manual steps are suboptimal because there may be sufficient internal fragmentation at the end of the allocation due to bucket sizes.
     1341If this storage is large enough, it eliminates a new allocation and copying.
    8881342Alternatively, if the storage is made smaller, there may be a reasonable crossover point, where just increasing the internal fragmentation eliminates a new allocation and copying.
    889 Hence, using @realloc@ as often as possible can reduce storage management costs.
     1343This pattern should be used more frequently to reduce storage management costs.
    8901344In fact, if @oaddr@ is @nullptr@, @realloc@ does a @malloc( newSize)@, and if @newSize@ is 0, @realloc@ does a @free( oaddr )@, so all allocation/deallocation can be done with @realloc@.
    8911345
    8921346The hidden problem with this pattern is the effect of zero fill and alignment with respect to reallocation.
    893 For safety, these properties must persist (be ``sticky'') when storage size changes.
    894 Prior to llheap, allocation properties are not preserved across reallocation nor is it possible to query an allocation to maintain these properties manually.
    895 Hence, a random call to @realloc@ that reallocates storage may cause downstream errors, if allocation properties are needed.
     1347For safety, we argue these properties should be persistent (``sticky'') and not transient.
     1348For example, when memory is initially allocated by @calloc@ or @memalign@ with zero fill or alignment properties, any subsequent reallocations of this storage must preserve these properties.
     1349Currently, allocation properties are not preserved nor is it possible to query an allocation to maintain these properties manually.
     1350Hence, subsequent use of @realloc@ storage that assumes any initially properties may cause errors.
    8961351This silent problem is unintuitive to programmers, can cause catastrophic failure, and is difficult to debug because it is transient.
    8971352To prevent these problems, llheap preserves initial allocation properties within an allocation, allowing them to be queried, and the semantics of @realloc@ preserve these properties on any storage change.
    8981353As a result, the realloc pattern is efficient and safe.
    8991354
    900 Note, @realloc@ has a compile-time disadvantage \vs @malloc@, because @malloc@ simplifies optimization opportunities.
    901 For @malloc@ the compiler knows the new storage address is not aliased, which is not true for @realloc@: the same storage can be returned.
    902 The compiler uses this knowledge to optimize the region of code between the @malloc@ call and the point where the pointer escapes or it finds the matching @free@.
    903 For @realloc@, the compiler must also analyse the code \emph{before} the call and this analysis may fail.
    904 
    905 Finally, there is a flaw in @realloc@'s definition: if there is no memory to allocate new storage for an expansion, the original allocation is not freed or moved, @errno@ is set to @ENOMEM@, and a null pointer is returned.
    906 This semantics preserves the original allocation so the data is not lost in a failure case.
    907 However, most calls to @realloc@ are written: @p = realloc( p, size )@, so the original storage is leaked when pointer @p@ is overwritten with null, negating the benefit of not freeing the storage for recovery purposes.
    908 Programmers can follow a coding pattern of:
    909 \begin{C++}
    910 char * p;
    911 ...
    912 void * p1 = realloc( p, size );
    913 if ( p1 ) p = (char *)p1;
    914 else // release some storage
    915 \end{C++}
    916 However, most programmers ignore return codes.
    917 A better alternative is to change @realloc@'s interface to be like @posix_memalign@, which returns two results, a return code and a storage address, so the error code is separate from the returned storage.
    918 \begin{C++}
    919 int retcode = realloc( (void **)&p, size );
    920 \end{C++}
    921 which returns 0 or @ENOMEM@, only changes @p@ for expansion, but requires an ugly cast on the call.
    922 
    923 
    924 \subsubsection{Sticky Test}
    925 
    926 Since sticky properties are an important safety feature for @realloc@, an ad-hoc @realloc@ test was created (not shown) to test whether a memory allocator preserves zero-fill from @calloc@ and/or alignment from @memalign@.
    927 The first test @calloc@s a large array (zero fill), sets the array to 42, shortens it, and then enlarges it to the original size.
    928 It does these steps 100 times attempting to get a reused large block of memory that is still set to 42, showing new storage does not preserve zero fill.
    929 The second test @memalign@s storage and @realloc@s it multiple times making it larger until the current storage must be copied into new storage.
    930 The alignment of each storage address returned from @realloc@ is verified with the original alignment.
    931 
    932 If a test fails, that sticky properties is not provided;
    933 if the test passes, that sticky property is provided in some form but not necessarily in all forms (test just got lucky).
    934 If an allocator fails these tests, it is unnecessary to perform a manual inspection of the @realloc@ code for sticky properties.
    935 Only llheap passes the test, as its @realloc@ applies sticky properties.
    936 
    9371355
    9381356\subsubsection{Header}
    9391357
    9401358To preserve allocation properties requires storing additional information about an allocation.
    941 Figure~\ref{f:llheapHeader} shows llheap captures this information in the per object header, which has two fields (left/right) sized appropriately for 32/64-bit alignment requirements.
     1359Figure~\ref{f:llheapHeader} shows llheap captures this information in the header, which has two fields (left/right) sized appropriately for 32/64-bit alignment requirements.
    9421360
    9431361\begin{figure}
     
    9491367
    9501368The left field is a union of three values:
    951 \begin{description}[leftmargin=*,topsep=2pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
     1369\begin{description}
    9521370\item[bucket pointer]
    953 is for deallocation and points back to the bucket associated with this storage request (see Figure~\ref{f:llheapDesign} for the fields accessible in a bucket).
     1371is for deallocated of heap storage and points back to the bucket associated with this storage requests (see Figure~\ref{f:llheapStructure} for the fields accessible in a bucket).
    9541372\item[mapped size]
    9551373is for deallocation of mapped storage and is the storage size for unmapping.
    9561374\item[next free block]
    957 is an intrusive pointer linking same-size free blocks onto a bucket's stack of free objects.
     1375is for freed storage and is an intrusive pointer chaining same-size free blocks onto a bucket's stack of free objects.
    9581376\end{description}
    959 The low-order 3-bits of these fields are unused for any stored values, due to the minimum aligned of 8-bytes (even for 32-bit addressing).
     1377The low-order 3-bits of this field are unused for any stored values as these values are at least 8-byte aligned.
    9601378The 3 unused bits are used to represent mapped allocation, zero filled, and alignment, respectively.
    9611379Note, the zero-filled/mapped bits are only used in the normal header and the alignment bit in the fake header.
    9621380This implementation allows a fast test if any of the lower 3-bits are on (@&@ and compare).
    963 If no bits are on, it implies a basic allocation, which is handled quickly in the fast path for allocation and free;
     1381If no bits are on, it implies a basic allocation, which is handled quickly in the fastpath for allocation and free;
    9641382otherwise, the bits are analysed and appropriate actions are taken for the complex cases.
    9651383
    966 The right field remembers the allocation request size versus the allocation (bucket) size, \eg request of 42 bytes is rounded up to 64 bytes.
    967 Since programmers think in request size rather than allocation size, the request size allows better generation of statistics or errors and also helps in memory management.
     1384The right field remembers the request size versus the allocation (bucket) size, \eg request of 42 bytes is rounded up to 64 bytes.
     1385Since programmers think in request sizes rather than allocation sizes, the request size allows better generation of statistics or errors and also helps in memory management.
    9681386
    9691387
    9701388\subsection{Statistics and Debugging}
    9711389
    972 llheap can be built to accumulate fast and largely contention-free allocation statistics to help understand dynamic memory behaviour.
    973 Incrementing statistic counters must appear on the allocation fast path.
    974 To make statistics performant enough for use on running systems, each heap has its own set of statistic counters, so statistic operations do not require slow atomic operations.
     1390llheap can be built to accumulate fast and largely contention-free allocation statistics to help understand dynamic-memory behaviour.
     1391Incrementing statistic counters must appear on the allocation fastpath.
     1392As noted, any atomic operation along the fastpath produces a significant increase in allocation costs.
     1393To make statistics performant enough for use on running systems, each heap has its own set of statistic counters, so heap operations do not require atomic operations.
    9751394
    9761395To locate all statistic counters, heaps are linked together in statistics mode, and this list is locked and traversed to sum all counters across heaps.
    977 Note, the list is locked to prevent errors traversing an active list, which may have nodes added or removed dynamically;
     1396Note, the list is locked to prevent errors traversing an active list;
    9781397the statistics counters are not locked and can flicker during accumulation.
    979 Hence, printing statistics during program execution is an approximation.
    9801398Figure~\ref{f:StatiticsOutput} shows an example of statistics output, which covers all allocation operations and information about deallocating storage not owned by a thread.
    981 No other memory allocator provides as comprehensive statistical information.
    982 These statistics were invaluable during the development of llheap for debugging and verifying correctness, and should be equally valuable to application developers.
    983 
    984 \begin{figure}
    985 \begin{C++}
    986 PID: 2167216 Heap statistics: (storage request / allocation)
    987   malloc    >0 calls 19,938,000,110; 0 calls 2,064,000,000; storage 4,812,152,081,688 / 5,487,040,092,624 bytes
    988   aalloc    >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
    989   calloc    >0 calls 7; 0 calls 0; storage 1,040 / 1,152 bytes
    990   memalign  >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
     1399No other memory allocator studied provides as comprehensive statistical information.
     1400Finally, these statistics were invaluable during the development of this work for debugging and verifying correctness and should be equally valuable to application developers.
     1401
     1402\begin{figure}
     1403\begin{lstlisting}
     1404Heap statistics: (storage request / allocation)
     1405  malloc >0 calls 2,766; 0 calls 2,064; storage 12,715 / 13,367 bytes
     1406  aalloc >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
     1407  calloc >0 calls 6; 0 calls 0; storage 1,008 / 1,104 bytes
     1408  memalign >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
    9911409  amemalign >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
    9921410  cmemalign >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
    993   resize    >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
    994   realloc   >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
    995             copies 0; smaller 0; alignment 0; 0 fill 0
    996   free      !null calls 19,938,000,092; null / 0 calls 4,064,000,004; storage 4,812,152,003,021 / 5,487,040,005,152 bytes
    997   remote    pushes 4; pulls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
    998   sbrk      calls 1; storage 8,388,608 bytes
    999   mmap      calls 2,000,000; storage 2,097,152,000,000 / 2,105,344,000,000 bytes
    1000   munmap    calls 2,000,000; storage 2,097,152,000,000 / 2,105,344,000,000 bytes
    1001   remainder calls 0; storage 0 bytes
    1002   threads   started 4; exited 4
    1003   heaps     $new$ 4; reused 0
    1004 \end{C++}
     1411  resize >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
     1412  realloc >0 calls 0; 0 calls 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
     1413  free !null calls 2,766; null calls 4,064; storage 12,715 / 13,367 bytes
     1414  away pulls 0; pushes 0; storage 0 / 0 bytes
     1415  sbrk calls 1; storage 10,485,760 bytes
     1416  mmap calls 10,000; storage 10,000 / 10,035 bytes
     1417  munmap calls 10,000; storage 10,000 / 10,035 bytes
     1418  threads started 4; exited 3
     1419  heaps new 4; reused 0
     1420\end{lstlisting}
    10051421\caption{Statistics Output}
    10061422\label{f:StatiticsOutput}
     
    10081424
    10091425llheap can also be built with debug checking, which inserts many asserts along all allocation paths.
    1010 These assertions detect incorrect allocation usage, like double frees, unfreed storage, or memory corruption because internal values (like header fields) are overwritten.
    1011 These checks are best effort as opposed to complete allocation checking as in @valgrind@~\cite{valgind}.
     1426These assertions detect incorrect allocation usage, like double frees, unfreed storage, or memory corruptions because internal values (like header fields) are overwritten.
     1427These checks are best effort as opposed to complete allocation checking as in @valgrind@.
    10121428Nevertheless, the checks detect many allocation problems.
    1013 There is a problem in detecting unfreed storage because some library routines assume their allocations have life-time duration, and hence, do not free their storage.
    1014 For example, @printf@ might allocate a 1024-byte buffer on the first call and never delete this buffer.
    1015 To prevent a false positive for unfreed storage, it is possible to specify an amount of storage that is never freed (see @malloc_unfreed@ in Section~\ref{s:ExtendedCAPI}), and it is subtracted from the total allocate/free difference.
     1429There is an unfortunate problem in detecting unfreed storage because some library routines assume their allocations have life-time duration, and hence, do not free their storage.
     1430For example, @printf@ allocates a 1024-byte buffer on the first call and never deletes this buffer.
     1431To prevent a false positive for unfreed storage, it is possible to specify an amount of storage that is never freed (see @malloc_unfreed@ \pageref{p:malloc_unfreed}), and it is subtracted from the total allocate/free difference.
    10161432Determining the amount of never-freed storage is annoying, but once done, any warnings of unfreed storage are application related.
    1017 Debugging mode also scrubs each allocation with @0xff@, so assumptions about zero-filled objects generate errors.
    1018 Finally, if a program does segment-fault in debug mode, a stack backtrace is printed to help in debugging.
    1019 
    1020 Tests indicate only a 30\% performance decrease when statistics \emph{and} debugging are enabled in programs with 10\% to 15\% allocation cost, and the latency cost for accumulating statistic from each heap is mitigated by limited calls, often only one at the end of the program.
    1021 
    1022 
    1023 % \subsection{Design Choices}
    1024 %
    1025 % llheap's design was reviewed and changed multiple times during its development.
    1026 % All designs focused on the allocation/free \newterm{fast path}, \ie the shortest code path for the most common operations.
    1027 % The model chosen is 1:1, giving one heap per thread for each kernel thread (KT).
    1028 % Hence, immediately after a KT starts, its heap is created and just before a KT terminates, its heap is (logically) deleted.
    1029 % Therefore, the majority of heap operations are uncontended, modulo operations on the global heap and ownership.
    1030 %
    1031 % Problems:
    1032 % \begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
    1033 % \item
    1034 % Need to know when a KT starts/terminates to create/delete its heap.
    1035 %
    1036 % \noindent
    1037 % It is possible to leverage constructors/destructors for thread-local objects to get a general handle on when a KT starts/terminates.
    1038 % \item
    1039 % There is a classic \newterm{memory-reclamation} problem for ownership because storage passed to another thread can be returned to a terminated heap.
    1040 %
    1041 % \noindent
    1042 % The classic solution only deletes a heap after all referents are returned, which is complex.
    1043 % The cheap alternative is for heaps to persist for program duration to handle outstanding referent frees.
    1044 % If old referents return storage to a terminated heap, it is handled in the same way as an active heap.
    1045 % To prevent heap blowup, terminated heaps can be reused by new KTs, where a reused heap may be populated with free storage from a prior KT (external fragmentation).
    1046 % In most cases, heap blowup is not a problem because programs have a small allocation set-size, so the free storage from a prior KT is apropos for a new KT.
    1047 % \item
    1048 % There can be significant external fragmentation as the number of KTs increases.
    1049 %
    1050 % \noindent
    1051 % In many concurrent applications, good performance is achieved with the number of KTs proportional to the number of CPUs.
    1052 % Since the number of CPUs is relatively small, and a heap is also relatively small, $\approx$10K bytes (not including any associated freed storage), the worst-case external fragmentation is still small compared to the RAM available on large servers with many CPUs.
    1053 % \item
    1054 % Need to prevent preemption during a dynamic memory operation because of the \newterm{serially-reusable problem}.
    1055 % \begin{quote}
    1056 % A sequence of code that is guaranteed to run to completion before being invoked to accept another input is called serially-reusable code.~\cite{SeriallyReusable}\label{p:SeriallyReusable}
    1057 % \end{quote}
    1058 % If a KT is preempted during an allocation operation, the OS can schedule another KT on the same CPU, which can begin an allocation operation before the previous operation associated with this CPU has completed, invalidating heap correctness.
    1059 % Note, the serially-reusable problem can occur in sequential programs with preemption, if the signal handler calls the preempted function, unless the function is serially reusable.
    1060 % Essentially, the serially-reusable problem is a race condition on an unprotected critical subsection, where the OS is providing the second thread via the signal handler.
    1061 
    1062 % There is the same serially-reusable problem with UTs migrating across KTs.
    1063 % \end{itemize}
    1064 % Tests showed this design produced the closest performance match with the best current allocators, and code inspection showed most of these allocators use different variations of this approach.
     1433
     1434Tests indicate only a 30\% performance decrease when statistics \emph{and} debugging are enabled, and the latency cost for accumulating statistic is mitigated by limited calls, often only one at the end of the program.
     1435
     1436
     1437\subsection{User-level Threading Support}
     1438\label{s:UserlevelThreadingSupport}
     1439
     1440The serially-reusable problem (see \pageref{p:SeriallyReusable}) occurs for kernel threads in the ``T:H model, H = number of CPUs'' model and for user threads in the ``1:1'' model, where llheap uses the ``1:1'' model.
     1441The solution is to prevent interrupts that can result in a CPU or KT change during operations that are logically critical subsections such as starting a memory operation on one KT and completing it on another.
     1442Locking these critical subsections negates any attempt for a quick fastpath and results in high contention.
     1443For user-level threading, the serially-reusable problem appears with time slicing for preemptable scheduling, as the signal handler context switches to another user-level thread.
     1444Without time slicing, a user thread performing a long computation can prevent the execution of (starve) other threads.
     1445To prevent starvation for a memory-allocation-intensive thread, \ie the time slice always triggers in an allocation critical-subsection for one thread so the thread never gets time sliced, a thread-local \newterm{rollforward} flag is set in the signal handler when it aborts a time slice.
     1446The rollforward flag is tested at the end of each allocation funnel routine (see \pageref{p:FunnelRoutine}), and if set, it is reset and a volunteer yield (context switch) is performed to allow other threads to execute.
     1447
     1448llheap uses two techniques to detect when execution is in an allocation operation or routine called from allocation operation, to abort any time slice during this period.
     1449On the slowpath when executing expensive operations, like @sbrk@ or @mmap@, interrupts are disabled/enabled by setting kernel-thread-local flags so the signal handler aborts immediately.
     1450On the fastpath, disabling/enabling interrupts is too expensive as accessing kernel-thread-local storage can be expensive and not user-thread-safe.
     1451For example, the ARM processor stores the thread-local pointer in a coprocessor register that cannot perform atomic base-displacement addressing.
     1452Hence, there is a window between loading the kernel-thread-local pointer from the coprocessor register into a normal register and adding the displacement when a time slice can move a thread.
     1453
     1454The fast technique (with lower run time cost) is to define a special code subsection and places all non-interruptible routines in this subsection.
     1455The linker places all code in this subsection into a contiguous block of memory, but the order of routines within the block is unspecified.
     1456Then, the signal handler compares the program counter at the point of interrupt with the the start and end address of the non-interruptible subsection, and aborts if executing within this subsection and sets the rollforward flag.
     1457This technique is fragile because any calls in the non-interruptible code outside of the non-interruptible subsection (like @sbrk@) must be bracketed with disable/enable interrupts and these calls must be along the slowpath.
     1458Hence, for correctness, this approach requires inspection of generated assembler code for routines placed in the non-interruptible subsection.
     1459This issue is mitigated by the llheap funnel design so only funnel routines and a few statistics routines are placed in the non-interruptible subsection and their assembler code examined.
     1460These techniques are used in both the \uC and \CFA versions of llheap as both of these systems have user-level threading.
    10651461
    10661462
     
    10681464
    10691465There are problems bootstrapping a memory allocator.
     1466\begin{enumerate}
     1467\item
    10701468Programs can be statically or dynamically linked.
     1469\item
    10711470The order in which the linker schedules startup code is poorly supported so it cannot be controlled entirely.
    1072 Knowing a KT's start and end independently from the KT code is also difficult.
     1471\item
     1472Knowing a KT's start and end independently from the KT code is difficult.
     1473\end{enumerate}
    10731474
    10741475For static linking, the allocator is loaded with the program.
     
    10761477This approach allows allocator substitution by placing an allocation library before any other in the linked/load path.
    10771478
    1078 Allocator substitution is similar for dynamic linking.
    1079 However, the dynamic loader starts first and needs to perform dynamic allocations \emph{before} the substitution allocator is loaded.
    1080 As a result, the dynamic loader uses a default allocator until the substitution allocator is loaded, after which all allocation operations are handled by the substitution allocator, including those from the dynamic loader.
    1081 Hence, some part of the @sbrk@ area may be used by the default allocator and substitution allocator statistics cannot be correct.
    1082 Furthermore, dynamic linking uses an assembler trampoline to call the procedure linkage table resolver, so there is an additional cost along the allocator fast path for all allocation operations.
    1083 Testing showed up to a 5\% performance decrease with dynamic linking as compared to static linking, even when using @tls_model( "initial-exec" )@ to obtain tighter binding.
    1084 
    1085 After the allocator is loaded, it needs to be initialized before the first allocation request.
    1086 Currently, the only mechanism to control initialization is via constructor routines (see below), each with an integer priority, where the linker calls the constructors in increasing order of priority.
    1087 However, there are few conventions for priorities amongst libraries, where constructors with equal priorities are called in arbitrary order.
    1088 (Only a transitive closure of references amongst library calls can establish an absolute initialization order.)
    1089 As a result, the first call to an allocation routine can occur without initialization.
    1090 To deal with this problem, it is necessary to have a global flag that is checked along the allocation fast path to trigger initialization (singleton pattern).
    1091 
    1092 Along these lines, there is a subtle problem is defining when a program starts and ends.
    1093 For example, prolog/epilog code outside of the program should not be considered in statistics as the application does not make these calls.
    1094 llheap establishes these two points using constructor/destructor routines with initialization priority 100, where system libraries use priorities $\le$ 100 and application programs have priorities $>$ 100.
    1095 \begin{flushleft}
    1096 \hspace*{\parindentlnth}
    1097 \setlength{\tabcolsep}{20pt}
    1098 \begin{tabular}{@{}ll@{}}
    1099 \begin{C++}
    1100 @__attribute__(( constructor( 100 ) ))@
    1101 static void startup( void ) {
     1479Allocator substitution is similar for dynamic linking, but the problem is that the dynamic loader starts first and needs to perform dynamic allocations \emph{before} the substitution allocator is loaded.
     1480As a result, the dynamic loader uses a default allocator until the substitution allocator is loaded, after which all allocation operations are handled by the substitution allocator, including from the dynamic loader.
     1481Hence, some part of the @sbrk@ area may be used by the default allocator and statistics about allocation operations cannot be correct.
     1482Furthermore, dynamic linking goes through trampolines, so there is an additional cost along the allocator fastpath for all allocation operations.
     1483Testing showed up to a 5\% performance decrease with dynamic linking as compared to static linking, even when using @tls_model("initial-exec")@ so the dynamic loader can obtain tighter binding.
     1484
     1485All allocator libraries need to perform startup code to initialize data structures, such as the heap array for llheap.
     1486The problem is getting initialization done before the first allocator call.
     1487However, there does not seem to be mechanism to tell either the static or dynamic loader to first perform initialization code before any calls to a loaded library.
     1488Also, initialization code of other libraries and the run-time environment may call memory allocation routines such as \lstinline{malloc}.
     1489This compounds the situation as there is no mechanism to tell either the static or dynamic loader to first perform the initialization code of the memory allocator before any other initialization that may involve a dynamic memory allocation call.
     1490As a result, calls to allocation routines occur without initialization.
     1491To deal with this problem, it is necessary to put a conditional initialization check along the allocation fastpath to trigger initialization (singleton pattern).
     1492
     1493Two other important execution points are program startup and termination, which include prologue or epilogue code to bootstrap a program, which programmers are unaware of.
     1494For example, dynamic-memory allocations before/after the application starts should not be considered in statistics because the application does not make these calls.
     1495llheap establishes these two points using routines:
     1496\begin{lstlisting}
     1497__attribute__(( constructor( 100 ) )) static void startup( void ) {
    11021498        // clear statistic counters
    11031499        // reset allocUnfreed counter
    11041500}
    1105 
    1106 \end{C++}
    1107 &
    1108 \begin{C++}
    1109 @__attribute__(( destructor( 100 ) ))@
    1110 static void shutdown( void ) {
     1501__attribute__(( destructor( 100 ) )) static void shutdown( void ) {
    11111502        // sum allocUnfreed for all heaps
    11121503        // subtract global unfreed storage
    11131504        // if allocUnfreed > 0 then print warning message
    11141505}
    1115 \end{C++}
    1116 \end{tabular}
    1117 \end{flushleft}
     1506\end{lstlisting}
     1507which use global constructor/destructor priority 100, where the linker calls these routines at program prologue/epilogue in increasing/decreasing order of priority.
     1508Application programs may only use global constructor/destructor priorities greater than 100.
    11181509Hence, @startup@ is called after the program prologue but before the application starts, and @shutdown@ is called after the program terminates but before the program epilogue.
    11191510By resetting counters in @startup@, prologue allocations are ignored, and checking unfreed storage in @shutdown@ checks only application memory management, ignoring the program epilogue.
    11201511
    1121 Unfortunately, @startup@/@shutdown@ only apply to the program KT, not to any additional KTs created by the program.
    1122 However, it is essential for the allocator to know when each KT is started/terminated to initialize/de-initialize the KT's heap.
    1123 Initialization can be handled by making the global flag (above) thread-local and then the initialization check along the fast path covers the first allocation by a newly created thread.
    1124 De-initialization is handled by registering a destructor routine using @pthread_key_create@ in the initialization code triggered along the fast path, which subsequently calls the destructor at thread termination.
    1125 
    1126 
    1127 \subsection{User-level Threading Support}
    1128 \label{s:UserlevelThreadingSupport}
    1129 
    1130 llheap is the underlying allocator in the user-threading programming languages \uC and \CFA.
    1131 These systems have preemptive scheduling, which requires management of timing events through a signal handle (@SIGALRM@).
    1132 The complexity in these system is the serially-reusable problem (see Section~\ref{s:SingleThreadedMemoryAllocator}) when UTs are time sliced (language level) independently from KTs (OS level).
    1133 The solution is to prevent interrupts resulting in a CPU or KT change during critical operations, eliminating problems like starting a memory operation on one KT and completing it on another when the underlying heaps are different.
    1134 % For user-level threading, the serially-reusable problem occurs with time slicing for preemptable user-level scheduling, as the interrupted UT is unlikely to be restarted on the same KT.
    1135 However, without time slicing, a long running UT prevents the execution of other UTs (starvation).
    1136 
    1137 The languages modify llheap using two techniques to prevent time slicing during non-interruptible allocation operations.
    1138 On the slow path, when executing expensive operations, time-slicing interrupts are disabled/enabled, so the operation completes atomically on the KT.
    1139 On the fast path, all non-interruptible allocation/deallocation routines are placed in a separate code segment.
    1140 The linker places this segment into a contiguous block of memory. %, but the order of routines within the block is unspecified.
    1141 Then the time-slice signal handler compares the program counter at the point of interrupt with the start/end address of the non-interruptible segment, and if executing within the segment, the signal handler returns without context switching.
    1142 The llheap funnel design simplifies this implementation so only a few funnel and statistics routines are located in the non-interruptible section.
    1143 % This technique is fragile as no mechanism exists to ensure all crucial code along the fast path is placed into the non-interruptible segment.
    1144 
    1145 Interestingly, marking non-interruptible operations by bracketing them with a set/reset of a thread-local flag fails, as read/write is not atomic on some machines.
    1146 For example, the ARM processor stores the thread-local pointer in a coprocessor register that cannot perform atomic base-displacement addressing.
    1147 Hence, there is a window between loading the kernel-thread-local pointer from the coprocessor register into a normal register and adding the displacement when a time slice can move a UT.
    1148 As well, switching to a T:C model with restartable critical sections using @librseq@~\cite{Desnoyers19} was examined (see Section~\ref{s:MutualExclusion}).
    1149 However, tests showed that while  @librseq@ can determine the particular CPU quickly, setting up the restartable critical-section along the allocation fast-path produced a significant decrease in performance.
    1150 Also, the number of undoable writes in @librseq@ is limited and restartable sequences cannot deal with UT migration across KTs.
    1151 For example, UT$_1$ is executing an allocation by KT$_1$ on CPU$_1$ and a time-slice preemption occurs.
    1152 The signal handler context switches UT$_1$ onto the user-level ready-queue and starts running UT$_2$ on KT$_1$, which immediately performs an allocation.
    1153 Since KT$_1$ is still executing on CPU$_1$, @librseq@ takes no action because it assumes KT$_1$ is still executing the same critical section.
    1154 Then UT$_1$ is scheduled onto KT$_2$ by the user-level scheduler, and its allocation operation continues in parallel with UT$_2$ using references into the heap associated with CPU$_1$, which corrupts CPU$_1$'s heap.
    1155 If @librseq@ had an @rseq_abort@ which:
    1156 \begin{enumerate}[leftmargin=*,topsep=2pt,itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
    1157 \item
    1158 marks the current restartable critical-section as cancelled so it restarts when attempting to commit.
    1159 \item
    1160 does nothing if there is no current restartable critical section in progress.
    1161 \end{enumerate}
    1162 Then @rseq_abort@ could be called on the backside of a user-level context-switching.
    1163 A feature similar to this idea might exist for hardware transactional memory.
    1164 A significant effort was made to make this approach work but its complexity, lack of robustness, and performance costs resulted in its rejection.
    1165 
    1166 
    1167 \subsection{C API}
    1168 
    1169 Figure~\ref{f:CDynamicAllocationAPI} shows the C dynamic allocation API, which is neither orthogonal nor complete.
    1170 For example, it is possible to zero fill or align an allocation but not both, it is only possible to zero fill an array allocation, and it is not possible to resize a memory allocation without data copying.
    1171 As a result, programmers must provide missing alternatives, which is error prone, rightly blaming the C programming language for a poor allocation API.
     1512While @startup@/@shutdown@ apply to the program KT, a concurrent program creates additional KTs that do not trigger these routines.
     1513However, it is essential for the allocator to know when each KT is started/terminated.
     1514One approach is to create a thread-local object with a construct/destructor, which is triggered after a new KT starts and before it terminates, respectively.
     1515\begin{lstlisting}
     1516struct ThreadManager {
     1517        volatile bool pgm_thread;
     1518        ThreadManager() {} // unusable
     1519        ~ThreadManager() { if ( pgm_thread ) heapManagerDtor(); }
     1520};
     1521static thread_local ThreadManager threadManager;
     1522\end{lstlisting}
     1523Unfortunately, thread-local variables are created lazily, \ie on the first dereference of @threadManager@, which then triggers its constructor.
     1524Therefore, the constructor is useless for knowing when a KT starts because the KT must reference it, and the allocator does not control the application KT.
     1525Fortunately, the singleton pattern needed for initializing the program KT also triggers KT allocator initialization, which can then reference @pgm_thread@ to call @threadManager@'s constructor, otherwise its destructor is not called.
     1526Now when a KT terminates, @~ThreadManager@ is called to chain it onto the global-heap free-stack, where @pgm_thread@ is set to true only for the program KT.
     1527The conditional destructor call prevents closing down the program heap, which must remain available because epilogue code may free more storage.
     1528
     1529Finally, there is a recursive problem when the singleton pattern dereferences @pgm_thread@ to initialize the thread-local object, because its initialization calls @atExit@, which immediately calls @malloc@ to obtain storage.
     1530This recursion is handled with another thread-local flag to prevent double initialization.
     1531A similar problem exists when the KT terminates and calls member @~ThreadManager@, because immediately afterwards, the terminating KT calls @free@ to deallocate the storage obtained from the @atExit@.
     1532In the meantime, the terminated heap has been put on the global-heap free-stack, and may be active by a new KT, so the @atExit@ free is handled as a free to another heap and put onto the away list using locking.
     1533
     1534For user threading systems, the KTs are controlled by the runtime, and hence, start/end pointers are known and interact directly with the llheap allocator for \uC and \CFA, which eliminates or simplifies several of these problems.
     1535The following API was created to provide interaction between the language runtime and the allocator.
     1536\begin{lstlisting}
     1537void startThread();                     $\C{// KT starts}$
     1538void finishThread();                    $\C{// KT ends}$
     1539void startup();                         $\C{// when application code starts}$
     1540void shutdown();                        $\C{// when application code ends}$
     1541bool traceHeap();                       $\C{// enable allocation/free printing for debugging}$
     1542bool traceHeapOn();                     $\C{// start printing allocation/free calls}$
     1543bool traceHeapOff();                    $\C{// stop printing allocation/free calls}$
     1544\end{lstlisting}
     1545This kind of API is necessary to allow concurrent runtime systems to interact with different memory allocators in a consistent way.
     1546
     1547%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     1548
     1549\subsection{Added Features and Methods}
     1550
     1551The C dynamic-allocation API (see Figure~\ref{f:CDynamicAllocationAPI}) is neither orthogonal nor complete.
     1552For example,
     1553\begin{itemize}
     1554\item
     1555It is possible to zero fill or align an allocation but not both.
     1556\item
     1557It is \emph{only} possible to zero fill an array allocation.
     1558\item
     1559It is not possible to resize a memory allocation without data copying.
     1560\item
     1561@realloc@ does not preserve initial allocation properties.
     1562\end{itemize}
     1563As a result, programmers must provide these options, which is error prone, resulting in blaming the entire programming language for a poor dynamic-allocation API.
    11721564Furthermore, newer programming languages have better type systems that can provide safer and more powerful APIs for memory allocation.
    1173 The following presents llheap API changes.
    1174 
    1175 \begin{figure}
    1176 \hspace*{\parindentlnth}
    1177 \begin{tabular}{@{}l|l@{}}
    1178 \begin{C++}
     1565
     1566\begin{figure}
     1567\begin{lstlisting}
    11791568void * malloc( size_t size );
    1180 void * calloc( size_t dimension, size_t size );
    1181 void * realloc( void * oaddr, size_t size );
    1182 void * reallocarray( void * oaddr, size_t dimension, size_t size );
    1183 void free( void * addr );
     1569void * calloc( size_t nmemb, size_t size );
     1570void * realloc( void * ptr, size_t size );
     1571void * reallocarray( void * ptr, size_t nmemb, size_t size );
     1572void free( void * ptr );
    11841573void * memalign( size_t alignment, size_t size );
    11851574void * aligned_alloc( size_t alignment, size_t size );
     
    11871576void * valloc( size_t size );
    11881577void * pvalloc( size_t size );
    1189 \end{C++}
    1190 &
    1191 \begin{C++}
    1192 int mallopt( int option, int value );
    1193 size_t malloc_usable_size( void * addr );
     1578
     1579struct mallinfo mallinfo( void );
     1580int mallopt( int param, int val );
     1581int malloc_trim( size_t pad );
     1582size_t malloc_usable_size( void * ptr );
    11941583void malloc_stats( void );
    11951584int malloc_info( int options, FILE * fp );
    1196 
    1197 // Unsupported
    1198 struct mallinfo mallinfo( void );
    1199 int malloc_trim( size_t );
    1200 void * malloc_get_state( void );
    1201 int malloc_set_state( void * );
    1202 \end{C++}
    1203 \end{tabular}
    1204 \caption{llheap support of C dynamic-allocation API}
     1585\end{lstlisting}
     1586\caption{C Dynamic-Allocation API}
    12051587\label{f:CDynamicAllocationAPI}
    12061588\end{figure}
    12071589
    1208 
    1209 \subsubsection{Extended C API}
    1210 \label{s:ExtendedCAPI}
    1211 
    1212 llheap transparently augments the C dynamic memory API to increase functionality, orthogonality, and safety.
    1213 \begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
    1214 \item
    1215 @malloc@ remembers the original allocation size separate from the actual allocation size.
     1590The following presents design and API changes for C, \CC (\uC), and \CFA, all of which are implemented in llheap.
     1591
     1592
     1593\subsubsection{Out of Memory}
     1594
     1595Most allocators use @nullptr@ to indicate an allocation failure, specifically out of memory;
     1596hence the need to return an alternate value for a zero-sized allocation.
     1597A different approach allowed by @C API@ is to abort a program when out of memory and return @nullptr@ for a zero-sized allocation.
     1598In theory, notifying the programmer of memory failure allows recovery;
     1599in practice, it is almost impossible to gracefully recover when out of memory.
     1600Hence, the cheaper approach of returning @nullptr@ for a zero-sized allocation is chosen because no pseudo allocation is necessary.
     1601
     1602
     1603\subsubsection{C Interface}
     1604
     1605For C, it is possible to increase functionality and orthogonality of the dynamic-memory API to make allocation better for programmers.
     1606
     1607For existing C allocation routines:
     1608\begin{itemize}[topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
    12161609\item
    12171610@calloc@ sets the sticky zero-fill property.
    12181611\item
    1219 @memalign@, @aligned_alloc@, @posix_memalign@, @valloc@ and @pvalloc@ set the sticky alignment property, remembering the specified alignment size.
    1220 \item
    1221 @realloc@ and @reallocarray@ preserve sticky properties across copying.
    1222 \item
    1223 @malloc_stats@ prints detailed statistics of allocation/free operations when linked with a statistic version.
    1224 \item
    1225 Existence of shell variable @MALLOC_STATS@ implicitly calls @malloc_stats@ at program termination, so precompiled programs do not have to be modified.
     1612@memalign@, @aligned_alloc@, @posix_memalign@, @valloc@ and @pvalloc@ set the sticky alignment property.
     1613\item
     1614@realloc@ and @reallocarray@ preserve sticky properties.
    12261615\end{itemize}
    12271616
    1228 llheap extends the C dynamic-memory API with new allocation operations with APIs matching existing C counterparts.
    1229 \begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=1pt,parsep=0pt]
    1230 \item
    1231 @aalloc@ extends @calloc@ for dynamic array allocation \emph{without} zero-filling the memory (faster than @calloc@).
    1232 \item
    1233 @resize@ extends @realloc@ for resizing an allocation \emph{without} copying previous data or preserving sticky properties (faster than @realloc@).
    1234 \item
    1235 @resizearray@ extends @resize@ for an array allocation (faster than @reallocarray@).
    1236 \item
    1237 @amemalign@ extends @aalloc@ with alignment and sets sticky alignment property.
    1238 \item
    1239 @cmemalign@ extends @amemalign@ with zero fill and sets sticky zero-fill and alignment property.
    1240 \item
    1241 @aligned_resize@ extends @resize@ with an alignment.
    1242 \item
    1243 @aligned_resizearray@ extends @resizearray@ with alignment.
    1244 \item
    1245 @aligned_realloc@ extends @realloc@ with alignment.
    1246 \item
    1247 @aligned_reallocarray@ extends @resizearray@ with alignment.
     1617The C dynamic-memory API is extended with the following routines:
     1618
     1619\medskip\noindent
     1620\lstinline{void * aalloc( size_t dimension, size_t elemSize )}
     1621extends @calloc@ for allocating a dynamic array of objects with total size @dim@ $\times$ @elemSize@ but \emph{without} zero-filling the memory.
     1622@aalloc@ is significantly faster than @calloc@, which is the only alternative given by the standard memory-allocation routines for array allocation.
     1623It returns the address of the dynamic array or @NULL@ if either @dim@ or @elemSize@ are zero.
     1624
     1625\medskip\noindent
     1626\lstinline{void * resize( void * oaddr, size_t size )}
     1627extends @realloc@ for resizing an existing allocation, @oaddr@, to the new @size@ (smaller or larger than previous) \emph{without} copying previous data into the new allocation or preserving sticky properties.
     1628@resize@ is significantly faster than @realloc@, which is the only alternative.
     1629It returns the address of the old or new storage with the specified new size or @NULL@ if @size@ is zero.
     1630
     1631\medskip\noindent
     1632\lstinline{void * amemalign( size_t alignment, size_t dimension, size_t elemSize )}
     1633extends @aalloc@ and @memalign@ for allocating a dynamic array of objects with the starting address on the @alignment@ boundary.
     1634Sets sticky alignment property.
     1635It returns the address of the aligned dynamic-array or @NULL@ if either @dim@ or @elemSize@ are zero.
     1636
     1637\medskip\noindent
     1638\lstinline{void * cmemalign( size_t alignment, size_t dimension, size_t elemSize )}
     1639extends @amemalign@ with zero fill and has the same usage as @amemalign@.
     1640Sets sticky zero-fill and alignment property.
     1641It returns the address of the aligned, zero-filled dynamic-array or @NULL@ if either @dim@ or @elemSize@ are zero.
     1642
     1643\medskip\noindent
     1644\lstinline{size_t malloc_alignment( void * addr )}
     1645returns the object alignment, where objects not allocated with alignment return the minimal allocation alignment.
     1646For use in aligning similar allocations.
     1647
     1648\medskip\noindent
     1649\lstinline{bool malloc_zero_fill( void * addr )}
     1650returns true if the objects zero-fill sticky property is set and false otherwise.
     1651For use in zero filling similar allocations.
     1652
     1653\medskip\noindent
     1654\lstinline{size_t malloc_size( void * addr )}
     1655returns the object's request size, which is updated when an object is resized or zero if @addr@ is @NULL@ (see also @malloc_usable_size@).
     1656For use in similar allocations.
     1657
     1658\medskip\noindent
     1659\lstinline{int malloc_stats_fd( int fd )}
     1660changes the file descriptor where @malloc_stats@ writes statistics (default @stdout@) and returns the previous file descriptor.
     1661
     1662\medskip\noindent
     1663\lstinline{size_t malloc_expansion()}
     1664\label{p:malloc_expansion}
     1665set the amount (bytes) to extend the heap when there is insufficient free storage to service an allocation request.
     1666It returns the heap extension size used throughout a program when requesting more memory from the system using @sbrk@ system-call, \ie called once at heap initialization.
     1667
     1668\medskip\noindent
     1669\lstinline{size_t malloc_mmap_start()}
     1670set the crossover between allocations occurring in the @sbrk@ area or separately mapped.
     1671It returns the crossover point used throughout a program, \ie called once at heap initialization.
     1672
     1673\medskip\noindent
     1674\lstinline{size_t malloc_unfreed()}
     1675\label{p:malloc_unfreed}
     1676amount subtracted to adjust for unfreed program storage (debug only).
     1677It returns the new subtraction amount and called by @malloc_stats@ (discussed in Section~\ref{}).
     1678
     1679
     1680\subsubsection{\CC Interface}
     1681
     1682The following extensions take advantage of overload polymorphism in the \CC type-system.
     1683
     1684\medskip\noindent
     1685\lstinline{void * resize( void * oaddr, size_t nalign, size_t size )}
     1686extends @resize@ with an alignment requirement, @nalign@.
     1687It returns the address of the old or new storage with the specified new size and alignment, or @NULL@ if @size@ is zero.
     1688
     1689\medskip\noindent
     1690\lstinline{void * realloc( void * oaddr, size_t nalign, size_t size )}
     1691extends @realloc@ with an alignment requirement, @nalign@.
     1692It returns the address of the old or new storage with the specified new size and alignment, or @NULL@ if @size@ is zero.
     1693
     1694
     1695\subsubsection{\CFA Interface}
     1696
     1697The following extensions take advantage of overload polymorphism in the \CFA type-system.
     1698The key safety advantage of the \CFA type system is using the return type to select overloads;
     1699hence, a polymorphic routine knows the returned type and its size.
     1700This capability is used to remove the object size parameter and correctly cast the return storage to match the result type.
     1701For example, the following is the \CFA wrapper for C @malloc@:
     1702\begin{cfa}
     1703forall( T & | sized(T) ) {
     1704        T * malloc( void ) {
     1705                if ( _Alignof(T) <= libAlign() ) return @(T *)@malloc( @sizeof(T)@ ); // C allocation
     1706                else return @(T *)@memalign( @_Alignof(T)@, @sizeof(T)@ ); // C allocation
     1707        } // malloc
     1708\end{cfa}
     1709and is used as follows:
     1710\begin{lstlisting}
     1711int * i = malloc();
     1712double * d = malloc();
     1713struct Spinlock { ... } __attribute__(( aligned(128) ));
     1714Spinlock * sl = malloc();
     1715\end{lstlisting}
     1716where each @malloc@ call provides the return type as @T@, which is used with @sizeof@, @_Alignof@, and casting the storage to the correct type.
     1717This interface removes many of the common allocation errors in C programs.
     1718Figure~\ref{f:CFADynamicAllocationAPI} show the \CFA wrappers for the equivalent C/\CC allocation routines with same semantic behaviour.
     1719
     1720\begin{figure}
     1721\begin{lstlisting}
     1722T * malloc( void );
     1723T * aalloc( size_t dim );
     1724T * calloc( size_t dim );
     1725T * resize( T * ptr, size_t size );
     1726T * realloc( T * ptr, size_t size );
     1727T * memalign( size_t align );
     1728T * amemalign( size_t align, size_t dim );
     1729T * cmemalign( size_t align, size_t dim  );
     1730T * aligned_alloc( size_t align );
     1731int posix_memalign( T ** ptr, size_t align );
     1732T * valloc( void );
     1733T * pvalloc( void );
     1734\end{lstlisting}
     1735\caption{\CFA C-Style Dynamic-Allocation API}
     1736\label{f:CFADynamicAllocationAPI}
     1737\end{figure}
     1738
     1739In addition to the \CFA C-style allocator interface, a new allocator interface is provided to further increase orthogonality and usability of dynamic-memory allocation.
     1740This interface helps programmers in three ways.
     1741\begin{itemize}[topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
     1742\item
     1743naming: \CFA regular and @ttype@ polymorphism (@ttype@ polymorphism in \CFA is similar to \CC variadic templates) is used to encapsulate a wide range of allocation functionality into a single routine name, so programmers do not have to remember multiple routine names for different kinds of dynamic allocations.
     1744\item
     1745named arguments: individual allocation properties are specified using postfix function call, so the programmers do not have to remember parameter positions in allocation calls.
     1746\item
     1747object size: like the \CFA's C-interface, programmers do not have to specify object size or cast allocation results.
    12481748\end{itemize}
    1249 
    1250 llheap extends the C dynamic memory API with new control operations.
    1251 The following routines are called \emph{once} during llheap startup to set specific limits \emph{before} an application starts.
    1252 Setting these value early is essential because allocations can occur from the dynamic loader and other libraries before application code executes.
    1253 To set a value, define a specific routine in an application and return the desired value, \eg
    1254 \begin{C++}
    1255 size_t malloc_extend() { return 16 * 1024 * 1024; }
    1256 \end{C++}
    1257 \begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*,topsep=0pt,itemsep=1pt,parsep=0pt]
    1258 \item
    1259 @malloc_extend@ returns the number of bytes to extend the @sbrk@ area when there is insufficient free storage to service an allocation request.
    1260 \item
    1261 @malloc_mmap_start@ returns the crossover allocation size from the @sbrk@ area to separate mapped areas, see also @mallopt( M_MMAP_THRESHOLD )@.
    1262 \item
    1263 @malloc_unfreed@ returns the amount subtracted from the global unfreed program storage to adjust for unreleased storage from routines like @printf@ (debug only).
    1264 \end{itemize}
    1265 
    1266 llheap extends the C dynamic-memory API with functions to query object properties.
    1267 \begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=1pt,parsep=0pt]
    1268 \item
    1269 @malloc_size@ returns the requested size of a dynamic object, which is updated when an object is resized, similar to @malloc_usable_size@.
    1270 \item
    1271 @malloc_alignment@ returns the object alignment, where the minimal alignment is 16 bytes.
    1272 \item
    1273 @malloc_zero_fill@ returns true if the object is zero filled.
    1274 \item
    1275 @malloc_remote@ returns true if the object is from a remote heap (@OWNERSHIP@ only).
    1276 \end{itemize}
    1277 
    1278 llheap extends the C dynamic-memory API with new statistics control.
    1279 \begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=1pt,parsep=0pt]
    1280 \item
    1281 @malloc_stats_fd@ sets the file descriptor for @malloc_stats@ writes (default @stdout@).
    1282 \item
    1283 @malloc_stats_clear@ clears the statistics counters for all thread heaps.
    1284 \item
    1285 @heap_stats@ extends @malloc_stats@ to only print statistics for the heap associated with the executing thread.
    1286 \end{itemize}
    1287 
    1288 
    1289 \subsubsection{Modern Allocation API}
    1290 
    1291 Modern programming languages have complex type systems that can be used to consolidate the panoply of memory allocation routines and features, providing a simpler programming experience and safety.
    1292 The \CFA language is used to demonstrate this capability, because llheap forms the memory allocator for this C variant, but other languages can provide similar APIs.
    1293 
    1294 \CFA polymorphism reduces the allocation API to two overloaded routines allocating a single object or an array of objects.
     1749Note, postfix function call is an alternative call syntax, using backtick @`@, so the argument appears before the function name, \eg
    12951750\begin{cfa}
    1296 forall( T & ) {
    1297         T * alloc( /* list of property functions ... */  ) { ... } // singleton allocation
    1298         T * alloc( size_t @dimension@, /* list of property functions ... */  ) { ... } // array allocation
    1299 }
     1751duration ?@`@h( int h );                // ? denote the position of the function operand
     1752duration ?@`@m( int m );
     1753duration ?@`@s( int s );
     1754duration dur = 3@`@h + 42@`@m + 17@`@s;
    13001755\end{cfa}
    1301 Because the \CFA type system uses the return type to select overloads (like Ada), this capability is leveraged to remove the object-size parameter and return cast for regular calls to C @malloc@ or @memalign@.
     1756
     1757The following extensions take advantage of overload polymorphism in the \CC type-system.
     1758
     1759\medskip\noindent
     1760\lstinline{T * alloc( ... )} or \lstinline{T * alloc( size_t dimension, ... )}
     1761is overloaded with a variable number of specific allocation operations, or an integer dimension parameter followed by a variable number of specific allocation operations.
     1762These allocation operations can be passed as named arguments when calling the \lstinline{alloc} routine.
     1763A call without parameters returns a dynamically allocated object of type @T@ (@malloc@).
     1764A call with only the dimension (dim) parameter returns a dynamically allocated array of objects of type @T@ (@aalloc@).
     1765The variable number of arguments consist of allocation properties, which can be combined to produce different kinds of allocations.
     1766The only restriction is for properties @realloc@ and @resize@, which cannot be combined.
     1767
     1768The allocation property functions are:
     1769
     1770\medskip\noindent
     1771\lstinline{T_align ?`align( size_t alignment )}
     1772to align the allocation.
     1773The alignment parameter must be $\ge$ the default alignment (@libAlign()@ in \CFA) and a power of two.
     1774The following example returns a dynamic object and object array aligned on a 4096-byte boundary.
    13021775\begin{cfa}
    1303 inline T * alloc( ... ) {
    1304         if ( _Alignof(T) <= defaultAlign() ) return @(T *)@malloc( @sizeof(T)@ ); // C allocation
    1305         else return @(T *)@memalign( @_Alignof(T)@, @sizeof(T)@ ); // C allocation
    1306 }
     1776int * i0 = alloc( @4096`align@ );  sout | i0 | nl;
     1777int * i1 = alloc( 3, @4096`align@ );  sout | i1; for (i; 3 ) sout | &i1[i]; sout | nl;
     1778
     17790x555555572000
     17800x555555574000 0x555555574000 0x555555574004 0x555555574008
    13071781\end{cfa}
    1308 The calls to these two routine are now much safer than the C equivalents.
    1309 \begin{C++}
    1310 int * ip = alloc(); $\C[2.75in]{// T => int, sizeof => 4/8, alignment => default}$
    1311 double * dp = alloc(); $\C{// T => double, sizeof => 8, alignment => default}$
    1312 struct Spinlock { ... } [[aligned(128)]] * sp = alloc(); $\C{// T => Spinlock, sizeof => ..., alignment = 128}$
    1313 int * ia = alloc( 10 ); $\C{// T => int, sizeof => 4/8, alignment => default, dimension => 10}\CRT$
    1314 \end{C++}
    1315 At compile time, each call to @alloc@ extracts the return type @T@ from the left-hand side of the assignment, which is then used in @sizeof@, @_Alignof@, and casting the storage to the correct type.
    1316 The @inline@ and constant expression allow the compiler to remove the @if@ statement.
    1317 This interface removes all the common allocation-call errors in C and provides a uniform name covering all allocation reducing the cognitive burden.
    1318 
    1319 The property functions are a variable number of routines providing @alloc@ with management details and actions.
    1320 The functions are @align@, @fill@, @resize@, and @realloc@, and written in prefix versus postfix notation solely for aesthetic reasons, \eg @3`fill@ $\equiv$ @fill( 3 )@.
    1321 The examples are arrays but apply equally to singleton allocations.
    1322 \begin{cfa}
    1323 int * ip = alloc( 5, @4096`align@, @5`fill@ ); $\C[3in]{// start array on 4096 boundary and initialize elements with 5}$
    1324 int * ip2 = alloc( 10, @ip`fill@, @(malloc_alignment( ip ))`align@ ); $\C{// first 5 elements same as ip, same alignment as ip}$
    1325 _Complex double * cdp = alloc( 5, @(3.5+4.1i)`fill@ ); $\C{// initialize complex elements with 3.5+4.1i}$
    1326 struct S { int i, j; };
    1327 S * sp = alloc( 10, @((S){3, 4})`fill@ ); $\C{// initialize structure elements with {3, 4}}$
    1328 ip = alloc( 10, @ip`realloc@, @10`fill@ ); $\C{// make array ip larger and initialize new elements with 10}$
    1329 double * dp = alloc( 5, @ip2`resize@, @256`align@, @13.5`fill@ ); $\C{// reuse ip2 storage for something else}\CRT$
     1782
     1783\medskip\noindent
     1784\lstinline{S_fill(T) ?`fill ( /* various types */ )}
     1785to initialize storage.
     1786There are three ways to fill storage:
     1787\begin{enumerate}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     1788\item
     1789A char fills each byte of each object.
     1790\item
     1791An object of the returned type fills each object.
     1792\item
     1793An object array pointer fills some or all of the corresponding object array.
     1794\end{enumerate}
     1795For example:
     1796\begin{cfa}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     1797int * i0 = alloc( @0n`fill@ );  sout | *i0 | nl;  // disambiguate 0
     1798int * i1 = alloc( @5`fill@ );  sout | *i1 | nl;
     1799int * i2 = alloc( @'\xfe'`fill@ ); sout | hex( *i2 ) | nl;
     1800int * i3 = alloc( 5, @5`fill@ );  for ( i; 5 ) sout | i3[i]; sout | nl;
     1801int * i4 = alloc( 5, @0xdeadbeefN`fill@ );  for ( i; 5 ) sout | hex( i4[i] ); sout | nl;
     1802int * i5 = alloc( 5, @i3`fill@ );  for ( i; 5 ) sout | i5[i]; sout | nl;
     1803int * i6 = alloc( 5, @[i3, 3]`fill@ );  for ( i; 5 ) sout | i6[i]; sout | nl;
    13301804\end{cfa}
    1331 Finally, \CFA has constructors and destructors, like \CC, which are invoked when allocating with @new@ and @delete@.
    1332 \begin{cfa}
    1333 T * t = new( 3, 4, 5 ); $\C[3in]{// allocate T and call constructor T\{ 3, 4, 5 \}}$
    1334 W * w = new( 3.5 ); $\C{// allocate W and call constructor W\{ 3,5 \}}$
    1335 delete( t, w ); $\C{// call destructors and free t and w}\CRT$
     1805\begin{lstlisting}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     18060
     18075
     18080xfefefefe
     18095 5 5 5 5
     18100xdeadbeef 0xdeadbeef 0xdeadbeef 0xdeadbeef 0xdeadbeef
     18115 5 5 5 5
     18125 5 5 -555819298 -555819298  // two undefined values
     1813\end{lstlisting}
     1814Examples 1 to 3 fill an object with a value or characters.
     1815Examples 4 to 7 fill an array of objects with values, another array, or part of an array.
     1816
     1817\medskip\noindent
     1818\lstinline{S_resize(T) ?`resize( void * oaddr )}
     1819used to resize, realign, and fill, where the old object data is not copied to the new object.
     1820The old object type may be different from the new object type, since the values are not used.
     1821For example:
     1822\begin{cfa}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     1823int * i = alloc( @5`fill@ );  sout | i | *i;
     1824i = alloc( @i`resize@, @256`align@, @7`fill@ );  sout | i | *i;
     1825double * d = alloc( @i`resize@, @4096`align@, @13.5`fill@ );  sout | d | *d;
    13361826\end{cfa}
    1337 The benefits of high-level API simplifications should not be underestimated with respect to programmer productivity and safety.
    1338 
    1339 
    1340 \section{Performance}
    1341 \label{c:Performance}
    1342 
    1343 This section uses a number of benchmarks to compare the behaviour of currently popular memory allocators with llheap.
    1344 The goal is to see if llheap is a competitive memory allocator;
    1345 no attempt is made to select a performance winner.
    1346 
    1347 
    1348 \subsection{Experimental Environment}
    1349 \label{s:ExperimentalEnvironment}
    1350 
    1351 The performance experiments are run on three different multi-core architectures, ARM, AMD, and Intel, covering memory models weak order (WO) and total store order (TSO), to determine if there is consistency across architectures:
    1352 \begin{description}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
    1353 \item[ARM]
    1354 Gigabyte E252-P31 128-core socket 3.0 GHz, WO memory model
    1355 \item[AMD]
    1356 Supermicro AS--1125HS--TNR EPYC 9754 128--core socket, hyper-threading $\times$ 2 sockets (512 processing units) 2.25 GHz, TSO memory model
    1357 \item[Intel]
    1358 Supermicro SYS-121H-TNR Xeon Gold 6530 32--core, hyper-threading $\times$ 2 sockets (128 processing units) 2.1 GHz, TSO memory model
    1359 \end{description}
    1360 For the parallel experiments, threads are pinned to cores in a linear fashion, \ie from core $N$ to $N+M$, where $N$ is the start of a socket boundary.
    1361 This layout produces the best throughput, as there is little or no communication among threads in the benchmarks, so binding tightly to the cache layout is unnecessary;
    1362 hence, there is almost no OS or NUMA effects perturbing the benchmarks.
    1363 
    1364 The compilers are gcc/g++-14.2.0 and gfortran-14.2.0 running on the Linux v6.8.0-52-generic OS, with @LD_PRELOAD@ used to override the default allocator.
    1365 To prevent eliding certain code patterns, crucial parts of a test are wrapped by the function @pass@
    1366 \begin{uC++}
    1367 static inline void * pass( void * v ) {         $\C[2.5in]{// prevent eliding, cheaper than volatile}$
    1368         __asm__  __volatile__( "" : "+r"(v) );  return v;
    1369 }
    1370 void * vp = pass( malloc( 0 ) );                        $\C{// wrap malloc call to prevent elision}\CRT$
    1371 \end{uC++}
    1372 The call to @pass@ can prevent a small number of compiler optimizations but this cost is the same for all allocators.
    1373 
    1374 
    1375 \subsection{Memory Allocators}
    1376 \label{s:MemoryAllocators}
    1377 
    1378 Historically, a number of C/\CC, stand-alone, general-purpose memory-allocators, \eg dlmalloc~\cite{dlmalloc}, have been written for use by programming languages providing unmanaged memory.
    1379 For this work, 6 of the popular, thread-safe memory-allocators are selected for comparison, along with llheap.
    1380 
    1381 \begin{description}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt,listparindent=\parindent]
    1382 \item[glibc~\cite{glibc}] % https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/MallocInternals
    1383 is the default glibc allocator, derived from ptmalloc, derived from dlmalloc.
    1384 glibc has multiple threads sharing multiple heaps with a global shared heap, header per allocation, free-lists with different organizational criteria and searching, and coalescing of certain adjacent free-areas.
    1385 Version Ubuntu GLIBC 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 2.31 compiled by Ubuntu 24.04.
    1386 
    1387 \item[hoard~\cite{hoard}]
    1388 has multiple threads sharing multiple heaps with a global shared heap, where each heap is composed of superblocks containing fixed-sized objects, with each super-block having a single header for its objects and reuse of superblocks if empty.
    1389 Version 3.13.0, compiled with gcc-14.2.0, default configuration, using command @make@.
    1390 Over the past 5 years, hoard development has stopped;
    1391 it fails on the ARM architecture, possibly because of the WO memory model.
    1392 
    1393 \item[jemalloc~\cite{Evans06}]
    1394 has multiple threads sharing multiple heaps (arenas) composed of same-sized chunks subdivided into regions composed of pages where each page is a container of same-sized objects.
    1395 The components are organized into a number of data structures to facilitate allocations, freeing, and coalescing.
    1396 Large objects are allocated using @mmap@.
    1397 Version jemalloc-5.3.0~\cite{jemalloc}, built with the default configuration, using commands: @autogen.sh; configure; make; make install@.
    1398 
    1399 \item[mimalloc~\cite{Leijen19}]
    1400 has a heap per thread composed of a reserved area subdivided into 3-sized page buffers, where each page is a container of same-sized objects.
    1401 Each page manages its own internal free list and the free list is build when a page is created so there is no initial bump pointer.
    1402 Empty pages are coalesced for reuse.
    1403 Uses a fast freelist search for small allocation sizes.
    1404 Onwership is handled with a separate remote free-list, and remote frees are batched before pushing to the owner heap.
    1405 Version mimalloc-v2.1.2, built with the default configuration, using commands @cmake . ; make@.
    1406 
    1407 \item[tbbmalloc~{\cite[pp.~314--315]{Kukanov07}}] is the allocator shipped with Intel's Threading Building Blocks (TBB).
    1408 tbbmalloc has a heap per thread for small allocations, with large allocation handled using a single request.
    1409 There is a global heap to acquire and reuse space obtained from the OS;
    1410 its reserved space is divided into thread buffers (containers).
    1411 A thread heap is composed of linked containers, with binning used to manage the allocations/deallocations within the containers.
    1412 Small object space is not returned to the OS.
    1413 An allocation has to search its container list to find a partially filled one.
    1414 The search is mitigated by moving mostly-free containers to the start of the container list;
    1415 free containers are returned to the global heap.
    1416 Ownership is handled with a separate remote free-list.
    1417 Version @libtbbmalloc.so.2.11@, installed using @apt-get install libtbb-dev@.
    1418 
    1419 \item[tcmalloc~\cite{tcmalloc}] is the allocator shipped with Google's perftools.\footnote{
    1420 Currently, there are two versions of tcmalloc: Google's perftools and one experimental version available on GitHub, which is not an officially supported Google product.
    1421 We selected the perftools version because it is the most likely choice for users as it installs directly onto multiple OSs.}
    1422 tcmalloc has per CPU heaps for small allocations, with large allocation handled with a single request.
    1423 CPU heaps require a rollback mechanism, @rseq@, to prevent the serially-reusable problem.
    1424 There is a global heap to acquire and reuse space obtained from the OS;
    1425 its reserved space is divided into multi-page spans (containers) of fixed sized objects.
    1426 A CPU heap uses binning to manage the allocations/deallocations within the containers.
    1427 Free containers are returned to the OS.
    1428 Version @libtcmalloc_minimal.so.4@, installed using @apt-get install google-perftools@.
    1429 \end{description}
    1430 
    1431 Untested allocators:
    1432 \begin{description}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
    1433 \item[ptmalloc3]
    1434 is 8 years old and already integrated into glibc.
    1435 \item[rpmalloc]
    1436 requires explicit insertion of initialization/finalization calls for handling concurrent kernel threads.
    1437 Having to augment programs, like SPEC CPU benchmarks, is deemed outside of normal programmer expectations.
    1438 % An allocator should just plugin and work.
    1439 \item[lock free] allocators guarantee allocation progress whether threads are delayed or killed using an atomic instruction, often CAS.
    1440 The original lock-free allocator~\cite{Michael04} is completely lock-free.
    1441 As stated, atomic instructions on the fast path result in a significant performance penalty.
    1442 Hence, new allocators are not completely lock free, switching to a combination of synchronization-free, \ie 1:1 allocator model, on the fast path and lock-free on the slow path(s) to manipulate shared data structures~\cite{rpmalloc}.
    1443 These allocators are better labelled as \newterm{hybrid locking} rather than lock free, as the lock-free aspect is not contributing to performance.
    1444 
    1445 % We observe that none of the pre-built standard malloc replacement libraries for ubuntu \url{https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+search?text=malloc} are completely lock-free.
    1446 % 1:1 allocators can avoid synchronization (locks, or lock-free techniques with atomic instructions as well as cache coherence overheads) in their critical fast paths, but care must be taken to ensure the the amount of free memory captured in thread-local structures is bounded.
    1447 
    1448 % Another approach to synchronization for allocators is \newterm{Restartable Critical Sections} ~\cite {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/512429.512451, https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/1698184, https://doi.org/10.1145/1064979.1064985}, which are available in linux as the \newterm{RSEQ} facility ~\cite{https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Restartable-Sequences.html}.
    1449 % Restartable Critical Sections  provide obstruction-free progress by means of specially crafted transactions that will be rolled back if they happen to be interrupted by the kernel.
    1450 % Restartable Critical Sections transactions can only operate on CPU-specific data, however, which forces a T:C allocator configuration.
    1451 % Google's experimental tcmalloc \url{https://google.github.io/tcmalloc/rseq.html} uses RSEQ. 
    1452 % SuperMalloc \url{ACM DL is dead at the moment, but it's in ISMM 2015} attempts to use hardware transactional memory for lock elision, but falls back to classic locking if the hardware facility is not present or when a given transactional attempt encounters repeated progress failures. 
    1453 
    1454 
    1455 \end{description}
    1456 
    1457 Allocator size is an indirect indicator of complexity.
    1458 Lines-of-code are computed with command @cloc *.{h,c,cc,cpp}@, except for hoard:
    1459 @cloc --exclude-lang="Bourne Shell",SKILL,Markdown,Bazel  Heap-Layers source include@.
    1460 \begin{center}
    1461 \setlength{\tabcolsep}{13pt}
    1462 \begin{tabular}{@{}rrrrrrrr@{}}
    1463 llheap & glibc & hoard & jemalloc & mimalloc & tbbmalloc & tcmalloc \\
    1464 1,450 & 3,807 & 11,932 & 24,512 & 6,887 & 6,256 & 33,963 \\
    1465 \end{tabular}
    1466 \end{center}
     1827\begin{lstlisting}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     18280x55555556d5c0 5
     18290x555555570000 7
     18300x555555571000 13.5
     1831\end{lstlisting}
     1832Examples 2 to 3 change the alignment, fill, and size for the initial storage of @i@.
     1833
     1834\begin{cfa}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     1835int * ia = alloc( 5, @5`fill@ );  for ( i; 5 ) sout | ia[i]; sout | nl;
     1836ia = alloc( 10, @ia`resize@, @7`fill@ ); for ( i; 10 ) sout | ia[i]; sout | nl;
     1837sout | ia; ia = alloc( 5, @ia`resize@, @512`align@, @13`fill@ ); sout | ia; for ( i; 5 ) sout | ia[i]; sout | nl;;
     1838ia = alloc( 3, @ia`resize@, @4096`align@, @2`fill@ );  sout | ia; for ( i; 3 ) sout | &ia[i] | ia[i]; sout | nl;
     1839\end{cfa}
     1840\begin{lstlisting}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     18415 5 5 5 5
     18427 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
     18430x55555556d560 0x555555571a00 13 13 13 13 13
     18440x555555572000 0x555555572000 2 0x555555572004 2 0x555555572008 2
     1845\end{lstlisting}
     1846Examples 2 to 4 change the array size, alignment and fill for the initial storage of @ia@.
     1847
     1848\medskip\noindent
     1849\lstinline{S_realloc(T) ?`realloc( T * a ))}
     1850used to resize, realign, and fill, where the old object data is copied to the new object.
     1851The old object type must be the same as the new object type, since the value is used.
     1852Note, for @fill@, only the extra space after copying the data from the old object is filled with the given parameter.
     1853For example:
     1854\begin{cfa}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     1855int * i = alloc( @5`fill@ );  sout | i | *i;
     1856i = alloc( @i`realloc@, @256`align@ );  sout | i | *i;
     1857i = alloc( @i`realloc@, @4096`align@, @13`fill@ );  sout | i | *i;
     1858\end{cfa}
     1859\begin{lstlisting}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     18600x55555556d5c0 5
     18610x555555570000 5
     18620x555555571000 5
     1863\end{lstlisting}
     1864Examples 2 to 3 change the alignment for the initial storage of @i@.
     1865The @13`fill@ in example 3 does nothing because no extra space is added.
     1866
     1867\begin{cfa}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     1868int * ia = alloc( 5, @5`fill@ );  for ( i; 5 ) sout | ia[i]; sout | nl;
     1869ia = alloc( 10, @ia`realloc@, @7`fill@ ); for ( i; 10 ) sout | ia[i]; sout | nl;
     1870sout | ia; ia = alloc( 1, @ia`realloc@, @512`align@, @13`fill@ ); sout | ia; for ( i; 1 ) sout | ia[i]; sout | nl;;
     1871ia = alloc( 3, @ia`realloc@, @4096`align@, @2`fill@ );  sout | ia; for ( i; 3 ) sout | &ia[i] | ia[i]; sout | nl;
     1872\end{cfa}
     1873\begin{lstlisting}[numbers=left,xleftmargin=2.5\parindentlnth]
     18745 5 5 5 5
     18755 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7
     18760x55555556c560 0x555555570a00 5
     18770x555555571000 0x555555571000 5 0x555555571004 2 0x555555571008 2
     1878\end{lstlisting}
     1879Examples 2 to 4 change the array size, alignment and fill for the initial storage of @ia@.
     1880The @13`fill@ in example 3 does nothing because no extra space is added.
     1881
     1882These \CFA allocation features are used extensively in the development of the \CFA runtime.
    14671883
    14681884
     
    14701886\label{s:Benchmarks}
    14711887
     1888%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     1889%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     1890%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Micro Benchmark Suite
     1891%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     1892%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     1893
    14721894There are two basic approaches for evaluating computer software: benchmarks and micro-benchmarks.
    1473 \begin{description}[leftmargin=*,topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
     1895\begin{description}
    14741896\item[Benchmarks]
    14751897are a suite of application programs (SPEC CPU/WEB) that are exercised in a common way (inputs) to find differences among underlying software implementations associated with an application (compiler, memory allocator, web server, \etc).
    14761898The applications are supposed to represent common execution patterns that need to perform well with respect to an underlying software implementation.
    1477 Benchmarks are often criticized for having overlapping patterns, insufficient patterns, or extraneous code that masks patterns, resulting in little or no information about why an application did or did perform well for the tested software.
     1899Benchmarks are often criticized for having overlapping patterns, insufficient patterns, or extraneous code that masks patterns.
    14781900\item[Micro-Benchmarks]
    14791901attempt to extract the common execution patterns associated with an application and run the pattern independently.
    14801902This approach removes any masking from extraneous application code, allows execution pattern to be very precise, and provides an opportunity for the execution pattern to have multiple independent tuning adjustments (knobs).
    1481 Micro-benchmarks are often criticized for inadequately representing real-world applications, but that is not their purpose.
     1903Micro-benchmarks are often criticized for inadequately representing real-world applications.
    14821904\end{description}
    14831905
     
    14851907In the past, an assortment of applications have been used for benchmarking allocators~\cite{Detlefs93,Berger00,Berger01,berger02reconsidering}: P2C, GS, Espresso/Espresso-2, CFRAC/CFRAC-2, GMake, GCC, Perl/Perl-2, Gawk/Gawk-2, XPDF/XPDF-2, ROBOOP, Lindsay.
    14861908As well, an assortment of micro-benchmark have been used for benchmarking allocators~\cite{larson99memory,Berger00,streamflow}: threadtest, shbench, Larson, consume, false sharing.
    1487 Many of these benchmark applications and micro-benchmarks are old and do not reflect current application allocation patterns.
    1488 
    1489 Except for the SPEC CPU benchmark, the other performance benchmarks used for testing are micro-benchmarks created for this paper.
    1490 All the benchmarks are used solely to extract differences among memory allocators.
    1491 The term benchmark in the following discussion means benchmark or micro-benchmark.
    1492 
    1493 
    1494 \subsection{SPEC CPU 2017}
    1495 
    1496 SPEC CPU 2017 is an industry-standardized suite for measuring and comparing performance of compute-intensive programs.
    1497 It contains integer and floating-point tests written in C, \CC, and Fortran, covering throughput and speed, where each test contains multiple benchmarks~\cite{SPECCPU2017}.
    1498 All the benchmarks perform dynamic allocation, from light to heavy.
    1499 However, the dynamic allocation is relatively small in comparison to the benchmark computation.
    1500 Therefore, differences among allocators should be small, unless a particular access pattern triggers a pathological case.
    1501 The reason for performing SPEC CPU across the allocators is to prove this hypothesis.
    1502 For allocator comparisons, we consider SPEC CPU differences of 5\% as equal and undetectable in general workloads and computing environments.
    1503 For compiler comparisons, small differences of 1\% or 2\% are considered significant.
    1504 
    1505 Table~\ref{t:SPEC-CPU-benchmark} shows the elapsed time (inverted throughput) of the SPEC CPU tests condensed to the geomean across the benchmarks for each of the four SPEC tests, intrate, intspeed, fprate, and fpspeed, covering integer and floating-point operations.
    1506 The tests are configured with size = ref, intrate/fprate: copies = 1, intspeed: threads = 1, fpspeed: threads = 16;
    1507 only fpspeed is concurrent using OpenMP.
    1508 Rigorous testing of SPEC CPU often runs many benchmark copies in parallel to completely load all computer cores.
    1509 However, these tests quickly run into architectural bottlenecks having little to do with an allocator's behaviour.
    1510 Runnning a single program bound to one core means the focus is strictly on allocator differences rather than conjoining transient OS and hardware differences.
    1511 The throughputs are ranked with {\color{red}red} lowest time and {\color{blue}blue} highest, where lower is best.
    1512 Hoard failed in multiple experiments on the ARM architecture, marked with {\color{purple}*Err*}, making it impossible to report the successful tests.
    1513 
    1514 The results show all allocators do well;
    1515 the average, median, and relative standard deviation (right column)\footnote{$rstd = \sigma / \mu \times 100$, where $\sigma =$ standard deviation and $\mu =$ average} proves our hypothesis that the performance difference, 0.6\% to 2.3\%, across allocators is small.
    1516 One implementation trend we observed is that two of the integer tests, @omnetpp@ and @xalancbmk@, had an execution pattern that exercised the cache.
    1517 For the three allocators using headers-per-allocation, glibc, llheap, and tbbmalloc, performance could be up to 40\% slower, between the best and worst allocator results.
    1518 The reason is that the headers consumed part of the cache line, resulting in more cache misses.
    1519 These two experiments, disproportionally increased the geomean for these allocators for both integral experiments on all architectures.
    1520 Hence, headers-per-allocation are disadvantaged for this specific execution pattern.
    1521 The floating-point tests show no trends among the allocators.
    1522 The goal for llheap in this experiment is to do well, which is established by it being close to the median result, meaning it is normally in the middle of the allocator results.
    1523 
    1524 \begin{table}
    1525 \centering
    1526 \caption{SPEC CPU benchmark, 3 hardware architectures, geomean per test in seconds, lower is better}
    1527 \label{t:SPEC-CPU-benchmark}
    1528 %\setlength{\tabcolsep}{6pt}
    1529 \begin{tabular}{@{}p{15pt}@{\hspace{15pt}}r|*{7}{r}|*{3}{r}@{}}
    1530                 &       bench/alloc. & glibc & hoard & jemalloc & llheap & mimalloc & tbbmalloc & tcmalloc & avg & med & rstd \\
    1531 \cline{2-12}
    1532                 &       intrate & {\color{blue}314.4} & {\color{violet}*Err*} & 300.3 & 309.9 & 302.6 & 313 & {\color{red}298.7} & 306.5 & 309.9 & 2\% \\
    1533 ARM             &       intspeed & {\color{blue}439.1} & {\color{violet}*Err*} & 417.6 & 431.1 & 419.9 & 436.2 & {\color{red}415.5} & 426.6 & 431.1 & 2.2\% \\
    1534                 &       fprate & 347.6 & {\color{violet}*Err*} & {\color{red}333.9} & 352.2 & {\color{blue}356.6} & 345.9 & 344.5 & 346.8 & 347.6 & 2\% \\
    1535                 &       fpspeed & 248.4 & {\color{violet}*Err*} & 245.3 & 245.7 & {\color{blue}250.9} & 246.6 & {\color{red}243.8} & 246.8 & 246.6 & 0.93\%
    1536 \end{tabular}
    1537 
    1538 \begin{comment}
    1539 \bigskip
    1540 \begin{tabular}{@{}p{15pt}@{\hspace{15pt}}r|*{7}{r}|*{3}{r}@{}}
    1541                 &       bench/alloc. & glibc & hoard & jemalloc & llheap & mimalloc & tbbmalloc & tcmalloc & avg & med & rstd \\
    1542 \cline{2-12}
    1543                 &       intrate & 251 & 242 & 239 & 249 & 240 & {\color{blue}251} & {\color{red}237} & 244 & 242 & 2.3\% \\
    1544 AMD             &       intspeed & 356 & 337 & 335 & 351 & 339 & {\color{blue}356} & {\color{red}333} & 344 & 339 & 2.7\% \\
    1545                 &       fprate & 256 & 261 & {\color{red}250} & 257 & {\color{blue}270} & 256 & 254 & 258 & 256 & 2.3\% \\
    1546                 &       fpspeed & 340 & {\color{blue}353} & {\color{red}326} & 338 & 348 & 341 & 328 & 339 & 340 & 2.7\%
    1547 \end{tabular}
    1548 \end{comment}
    1549 
    1550 \bigskip
    1551 \begin{tabular}{@{}p{15pt}@{\hspace{15pt}}r|*{7}{r}|*{3}{r}@{}}
    1552                 &       bench/alloc. & glibc & hoard & jemalloc & llheap & mimalloc & tbbmalloc & tcmalloc & avg & med & rstd \\
    1553 \cline{2-12}
    1554                 &       intrate & 251.2 & {\color{red}241.1} & 251.9 & 249.3 & 251.6 & 251.5 & {\color{blue}252.3} & 249.9 & 251.5 & 1.5\% \\
    1555 AMD             &       intspeed & {\color{blue}356.1} & {\color{red}337.1} & 355.4 & 351.7 & 355.5 & 355.8 & 355.9 & 352.5 & 355.5 & 1.8\% \\
    1556                 &       fprate & {\color{red}253.9} & {\color{blue}259.9} & 254.4 & 255.8 & 254.5 & 254.4 & 254.7 & 255.4 & 254.5 & 0.75\% \\
    1557                 &       fpspeed & 329.9 & {\color{blue}339.6} & 330.6 & {\color{red}327.2} & 329.9 & 329.8 & 329.5 & 330.9 & 329.9 & 1.1\%
    1558 \end{tabular}
    1559 
    1560 \bigskip
    1561 \begin{tabular}{@{}p{15pt}@{\hspace{15pt}}r|*{7}{r}|*{3}{r}@{}}
    1562                 &       bench./alloc. & glibc & hoard & jemalloc & llheap & mimalloc & tbbmalloc & tcmalloc & avg & med & rstd \\
    1563 \cline{2-12}
    1564                 &       intrate & 188.6 & 185.1 & 183.1 & 188.6 & 181.5 & {\color{blue}189.4} & {\color{red}181.2} & 185.4 & 185.1 & 1.8\% \\
    1565 Intel   &       intspeed & 271.6 & 264.6 & 263.5 & 270.2 & 261.2 & {\color{blue}272.1} & {\color{red}260.3} & 266.2 & 264.6 & 1.7\% \\
    1566                 &       fprate & 202.7 & {\color{red}201.8} & 204.4 & 205.1 & {\color{blue}205.3} & 204.7 & 203.7 & 204 & 204.4 & 0.59\% \\
    1567                 &       fpspeed & 237.3 & 235.3 & 234.5 & 235.6 & {\color{blue}244.5} & 236.1 & {\color{red}233.6} & 236.7 & 235.6 & 1.4\%
    1568 \end{tabular}
    1569 \end{table}
    1570 
    1571 
    1572 \subsection{Realloc Benchmark}
    1573 
    1574 Some examination of @realloc@ is necessary to encourage its use.
    1575 Reallocation can be very efficient (both in space and time) when manipulating variable-sized objects, like strings, multi-precise numbers, or dynamic-sized arrays.
    1576 Both X11 (500+ calls) and glibc (300+ calls) use realloc for various purposes.
    1577 For example, in \CC:
    1578 \begin{C++}
    1579 string s = "abc"; // initial allocation and copy new value
    1580 s = "gh"; // change size and copy new value
    1581 s = "l" + s + "r"; // change size and copy new value
    1582 s = s.substr(0,2); // reduce size
    1583 \end{C++}
    1584 variable @s@ changes size and value multiple times, plus temporary strings are created implicitly, \eg multiple concatenations, all of which requires multiple allocations, copying, and deallocations.
    1585 @realloc@ can optimize some of these operations in two ways:
    1586 \begin{enumerate}[leftmargin=*]
    1587 \item
    1588 For decreasing size, Figure~\ref{f:ReallocOptDecreasing} shows a logical truncation of the existing object rather than creating a new object, \ie use a heuristic to decide whether to perform the 3-step procedure (allocate, copy, and free), or pretend the storage is decreased and return the old storage and value, performing zero work but increasing internal fragmentation.
    1589 For example, a request to decrease size from 96 to 75 bytes can be implemented two ways:
    1590 The 21 bytes of internal fragmentation at the end of the logical reallocation may be unavailable, directly available if the allocator supports @malloc_usable_size@, or indirectly available if put back on the allocator free list.
    1591 \item
    1592 For increasing size, Figure~\ref{f:ReallocOptIncreasing} takes advantage of the fact that many memory allocators quantize request sizes (binning), often returning slightly more storage than requested (internal fragmentation).
    1593 For example, an initial request for 75 bytes may return 96 bytes of storage, giving 21 bytes of internal fragmentation:
    1594 For increasing the size up to 21 bytes, realloc can take advantage of this unused space rather than performing the 3-step procedure, which can also result in unused storage.
     1909Many of these benchmark applications and micro-benchmarks are old and may not reflect current application allocation patterns.
     1910
     1911This work designs and examines a new set of micro-benchmarks for memory allocators that test a variety of allocation patterns, each with multiple tuning parameters.
     1912The aim of the micro-benchmark suite is to create a set of programs that can evaluate a memory allocator based on the key performance metrics such as speed, memory overhead, and cache performance.
     1913% These programs can be taken as a standard to benchmark an allocator's basic goals.
     1914These programs give details of an allocator's memory overhead and speed under certain allocation patterns.
     1915The allocation patterns are configurable (adjustment knobs) to observe an allocator's performance across a spectrum allocation patterns, which is seldom possible with benchmark programs.
     1916Each micro-benchmark program has multiple control knobs specified by command-line arguments.
     1917
     1918The new micro-benchmark suite measures performance by allocating dynamic objects and measuring specific metrics.
     1919An allocator's speed is benchmarked in different ways, as are issues like false sharing.
     1920
     1921
     1922\subsection{Prior Multi-Threaded Micro-Benchmarks}
     1923
     1924Modern memory allocators, such as llheap, must handle multi-threaded programs at the KT and UT level.
     1925The following multi-threaded micro-benchmarks are presented to give a sense of prior work~\cite{Berger00} at the KT level.
     1926None of the prior work addresses multi-threading at the UT level.
     1927
     1928
     1929\subsubsection{threadtest}
     1930
     1931This benchmark stresses the ability of the allocator to handle different threads allocating and deallocating independently.
     1932There is no interaction among threads, \ie no object sharing.
     1933Each thread repeatedly allocates 100,000 \emph{8-byte} objects then deallocates them in the order they were allocated.
     1934The execution time of the benchmark evaluates its efficiency.
     1935
     1936
     1937\subsubsection{shbench}
     1938
     1939This benchmark is similar to threadtest but each thread randomly allocate and free a number of \emph{random-sized} objects.
     1940It is a stress test that also uses runtime to determine efficiency of the allocator.
     1941
     1942
     1943\subsubsection{Larson}
     1944
     1945This benchmark simulates a server environment.
     1946Multiple threads are created where each thread allocates and frees a number of random-sized objects within a size range.
     1947Before the thread terminates, it passes its array of 10,000 objects to a new child thread to continue the process.
     1948The number of thread generations varies depending on the thread speed.
     1949It calculates memory operations per second as an indicator of the memory allocator's performance.
     1950
     1951
     1952\subsection{New Multi-Threaded Micro-Benchmarks}
     1953
     1954The following new benchmarks were created to assess multi-threaded programs at the KT and UT level.
     1955For generating random values, two generators are supported: uniform~\cite{uniformPRNG} and fisher~\cite{fisherPRNG}.
     1956
     1957
     1958\subsubsection{Churn Benchmark}
     1959\label{s:ChurnBenchmark}
     1960
     1961The churn benchmark measures the runtime speed of an allocator in a multi-threaded scenario, where each thread extensively allocates and frees dynamic memory.
     1962Only @malloc@ and @free@ are used to eliminate any extra cost, such as @memcpy@ in @calloc@ or @realloc@.
     1963Churn simulates a memory intensive program and can be tuned to create different scenarios.
     1964
     1965Figure~\ref{fig:ChurnBenchFig} shows the pseudo code for the churn micro-benchmark.
     1966This benchmark creates a buffer with M spots and an allocation in each spot, and then starts K threads.
     1967Each thread picks a random spot in M, frees the object currently at that spot, and allocates a new object for that spot.
     1968Each thread repeats this cycle N times.
     1969The main thread measures the total time taken for the whole benchmark and that time is used to evaluate the memory allocator's performance.
     1970
     1971\begin{figure}
     1972\centering
     1973\begin{lstlisting}
     1974Main Thread
     1975        create worker threads
     1976        note time T1
     1977        ...
     1978        note time T2
     1979        churn_speed = (T2 - T1)
     1980Worker Thread
     1981        initialize variables
     1982        ...
     1983        for ( N )
     1984                R = random spot in array
     1985                free R
     1986                allocate new object at R
     1987\end{lstlisting}
     1988%\includegraphics[width=1\textwidth]{figures/bench-churn.eps}
     1989\caption{Churn Benchmark}
     1990\label{fig:ChurnBenchFig}
     1991\end{figure}
     1992
     1993The adjustment knobs for churn are:
     1994\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     1995\item[thread:]
     1996number of threads (K).
     1997\item[spots:]
     1998number of spots for churn (M).
     1999\item[obj:]
     2000number of objects per thread (N).
     2001\item[max:]
     2002maximum object size.
     2003\item[min:]
     2004minimum object size.
     2005\item[step:]
     2006object size increment.
     2007\item[distro:]
     2008object size distribution
     2009\end{description}
     2010
     2011
     2012\subsubsection{Cache Thrash}
     2013\label{sec:benchThrashSec}
     2014
     2015The cache-thrash micro-benchmark measures allocator-induced active false-sharing as illustrated in Section~\ref{s:AllocatorInducedActiveFalseSharing}.
     2016If memory is allocated for multiple threads on the same cache line, this can significantly slow down program performance.
     2017When threads share a cache line, frequent reads/writes to their cache-line object causes cache misses, which cause escalating delays as cache distance increases.
     2018
     2019Cache thrash tries to create a scenario that leads to false sharing, if the underlying memory allocator is allocating dynamic memory to multiple threads on the same cache lines.
     2020Ideally, a memory allocator should distance the dynamic memory region of one thread from another.
     2021Having multiple threads allocating small objects simultaneously can cause a memory allocator to allocate objects on the same cache line, if its not distancing the memory among different threads.
     2022
     2023Figure~\ref{fig:benchThrashFig} shows the pseudo code for the cache-thrash micro-benchmark.
     2024First, it creates K worker threads.
     2025Each worker thread allocates an object and intensively reads/writes it for M times to possible invalidate cache lines that may interfere with other threads sharing the same cache line.
     2026Each thread repeats this for N times.
     2027The main thread measures the total time taken for all worker threads to complete.
     2028Worker threads sharing cache lines with each other are expected to take longer.
     2029
     2030\begin{figure}
     2031\centering
     2032\input{AllocInducedActiveFalseSharing}
     2033\medskip
     2034\begin{lstlisting}
     2035Main Thread
     2036        create worker threads
     2037        ...
     2038        signal workers to allocate
     2039        ...
     2040        signal workers to free
     2041        ...
     2042Worker Thread$\(_1\)$
     2043        warm up memory in chunks of 16 bytes
     2044        ...
     2045        For N
     2046                malloc an object
     2047                read/write the object M times
     2048                free the object
     2049        ...
     2050Worker Thread$\(_2\)$
     2051        // same as Worker Thread$\(_1\)$
     2052\end{lstlisting}
     2053%\input{MemoryOverhead}
     2054%\includegraphics[width=1\textwidth]{figures/bench-cache-thrash.eps}
     2055\caption{Allocator-Induced Active False-Sharing Benchmark}
     2056\label{fig:benchThrashFig}
     2057\end{figure}
     2058
     2059The adjustment knobs for cache access scenarios are:
     2060\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2061\item[thread:]
     2062number of threads (K).
     2063\item[iterations:]
     2064iterations of cache benchmark (N).
     2065\item[cacheRW:]
     2066repetitions of reads/writes to object (M).
     2067\item[size:]
     2068object size.
     2069\end{description}
     2070
     2071
     2072\subsubsection{Cache Scratch}
     2073\label{s:CacheScratch}
     2074
     2075The cache-scratch micro-benchmark measures allocator-induced passive false-sharing as illustrated in Section~\ref{s:AllocatorInducedPassiveFalseSharing}.
     2076As with cache thrash, if memory is allocated for multiple threads on the same cache line, this can significantly slow down program performance.
     2077In this scenario, the false sharing is being caused by the memory allocator although it is started by the program sharing an object.
     2078
     2079% An allocator can unintentionally induce false sharing depending upon its management of the freed objects.
     2080% If thread Thread$_1$ allocates multiple objects together, they may be allocated on the same cache line by the memory allocator.
     2081% If Thread$_1$ passes these object to thread Thread$_2$, then both threads may share the same cache line but this scenario is not induced by the allocator;
     2082% instead, the program induced this situation.
     2083% Now if Thread$_2$ frees this object and then allocate an object of the same size, the allocator may return the same object, which is on a cache line shared with thread Thread$_1$.
     2084
     2085Cache scratch tries to create a scenario that leads to false sharing and should make the memory allocator preserve the program-induced false sharing, if it does not return a freed object to its owner thread and, instead, re-uses it instantly.
     2086An allocator using object ownership, as described in subsection Section~\ref{s:Ownership}, is less susceptible to allocator-induced passive false-sharing.
     2087If the object is returned to the thread that owns it, then the new object that the thread gets is less likely to be on the same cache line.
     2088
     2089Figure~\ref{fig:benchScratchFig} shows the pseudo code for the cache-scratch micro-benchmark.
     2090First, it allocates K dynamic objects together, one for each of the K worker threads, possibly causing memory allocator to allocate these objects on the same cache line.
     2091Then it create K worker threads and passes an object from the K allocated objects to each of the K threads.
     2092Each worker thread frees the object passed by the main thread.
     2093Then, it allocates an object and reads/writes it repetitively for M times possibly causing frequent cache invalidations.
     2094Each worker repeats this N times.
     2095
     2096\begin{figure}
     2097\centering
     2098\input{AllocInducedPassiveFalseSharing}
     2099\medskip
     2100\begin{lstlisting}
     2101Main Thread
     2102        malloc N objects $for$ each worker $thread$
     2103        create worker threads and pass N objects to each worker
     2104        ...
     2105        signal workers to allocate
     2106        ...
     2107        signal workers to free
     2108        ...
     2109Worker Thread$\(_1\)$
     2110        warmup memory in chunks of 16 bytes
     2111        ...
     2112        free the object passed by the Main Thread
     2113        For N
     2114                malloc new object
     2115                read/write the object M times
     2116                free the object
     2117        ...
     2118Worker Thread$\(_2\)$
     2119        // same as Worker Thread$\(_1\)$
     2120\end{lstlisting}
     2121%\includegraphics[width=1\textwidth]{figures/bench-cache-scratch.eps}
     2122\caption{Program-Induced Passive False-Sharing Benchmark}
     2123\label{fig:benchScratchFig}
     2124\end{figure}
     2125
     2126Each thread allocating an object after freeing the original object passed by the main thread should cause the memory allocator to return the same object that was initially allocated by the main thread if the allocator did not return the initial object back to its owner (main thread).
     2127Then, intensive read/write on the shared cache line by multiple threads should slow down worker threads due to to high cache invalidations and misses.
     2128Main thread measures the total time taken for all the workers to complete.
     2129
     2130Similar to benchmark cache thrash in subsection Section~\ref{sec:benchThrashSec}, different cache access scenarios can be created using the following command-line arguments.
     2131\begin{description}[topsep=0pt,itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2132\item[threads:]
     2133number of threads (K).
     2134\item[iterations:]
     2135iterations of cache benchmark (N).
     2136\item[cacheRW:]
     2137repetitions of reads/writes to object (M).
     2138\item[size:]
     2139object size.
     2140\end{description}
     2141
     2142
     2143\subsubsection{Speed Micro-Benchmark}
     2144\label{s:SpeedMicroBenchmark}
     2145\vspace*{-4pt}
     2146
     2147The speed benchmark measures the runtime speed of individual and sequences of memory allocation routines:
     2148\begin{enumerate}[topsep=-5pt,itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2149\item malloc
     2150\item realloc
     2151\item free
     2152\item calloc
     2153\item malloc-free
     2154\item realloc-free
     2155\item calloc-free
     2156\item malloc-realloc
     2157\item calloc-realloc
     2158\item malloc-realloc-free
     2159\item calloc-realloc-free
     2160\item malloc-realloc-free-calloc
    15952161\end{enumerate}
    15962162
    1597 \begin{figure}
    1598 \centering
    1599 \subfloat[Decreasing]{\label{f:ReallocOptDecreasing}\input{decreasing}}
    1600 \hspace*{5pt}
    1601 \vrule
    1602 \hspace*{5pt}
    1603 \subfloat[Increasing]{\label{f:ReallocOptIncreasing}\raisebox{0.38\totalheight}{\input{increasing}}}
    1604 \caption{Realloc Optimizations}
    1605 \label{f:ReallocOptimizations}
    1606 \end{figure}
    1607 
    1608 Figure~\ref{f:reallocShrinkBenchmark} shows a benchmark to determine if an allocator takes advantage of the first optimization.
    1609 The benchmark takes a fixed-size allocation and reduction it by 10\%--90\% in steps of 10\%, checking the storage addresses at each reduction step if the same or new storage is returned.
    1610 The fixed-sized allocation is varied between sizes 64--16K in powers of 2.
    1611 Hence, both small and large sized storage are reduced.
    1612 The following table shows the approximate percentage point where storage is retained on shrinkage, \eg the storage reduction must be greater than 50\% of the prior allocation before a new allocation is performed for the smaller size, data is copied, and prior storage released.
    1613 \begin{center}
    1614 \setlength{\tabcolsep}{15pt}
    1615 \begin{tabular}{@{}ccccccc@{}}
    1616 glibc   & hoard & jemalloc      & llheap        & mimalloc      & tbbmalloc & tcmalloc \\
    1617 90\%    & 50\%  & 20\%          & 50\%          & 50\%          & 90\%          & 50\%
    1618 \end{tabular}
    1619 \end{center}
    1620 The results show glibc and tbbmalloc do not perform this optimization, while the other allocators do with 50\% as the most popular crossover point.
    1621 
    1622 Figure~\ref{f:reallocGrowBenchmark} shows a benchmark to determine if an allocator takes advantage of the second optimization.
    1623 This benchmark creates an array of fixed-sized elements increasing the array size by 1 from 1--10,000 elements.
    1624 Then the element size is varied from 32, 64, 128, 256 bytes.
    1625 To prevent allocators from doing a bump allocation across the entire benchmark, a small perturbation is introduced where storage is allocated, held, and then released at infrequent points across the experiment.
    1626 A companion experiment is a manual simulation of the @realloc@: @malloc@ new storage, copy old data, and free old storage.
    1627 Note, the @realloc@ simulation is performing an equivalent perturbation to the @realloc@ benchmark each time through the loop.
    1628 The experiment is repeated 10,000 times for @realloc@ and 100 times for the simulation to obtain similar timing ranges.
    1629 The performance difference between the @realloc@ and @realloc@-simulation experiments shows if @realloc@ is optimizing unused internal fragmentation at the end of its quantized bucket.
    1630 
    1631 Figure~\ref{f:reallocGrowResults} shows the results for the @realloc@ and @realloc@ simulation benchmarks.
    1632 The difference between the benchmarks is two orders of magnitude, \ie all allocators are reusing some internal fragmentation to prevent a reallocation and copy as the array grows.
    1633 The large difference is the extra copying in the simulation case, which is expensive.
    1634 Within the @realloc@ benchmark, allocators glibc, hoard, jemalloc, and tbbmalloc have higher cost, while the remaining allocators have almost identical results.
    1635 Within the @realloc@ simulation benchmark, allocators glibc and tbbmalloc have higher cost, while the remaining allocators have almost identical results.
    1636 This benchmark confirms that @realloc@ can provide some level of performance benefit for dynamically growing data structures, \eg strings or arrays.
    1637 Therefore, encouraging its use is reasonable, if and only if, it is safe to do so.
    1638 Note, this encouragement is apt for container developers, where low-level storage management is performed internally for the benefit of application users.
    1639 
    1640 \begin{figure}
    1641 \begin{C++}
    1642 for ( size_t p = 10; p <= 100; p += 10 ) {
    1643         for ( size_t s = 64; s < 16 * 1024; s <<= 1 ) {
    1644                 bool reuse = false;
    1645                 void * prev = pass( malloc( s ) );
    1646                 void * curr = pass( realloc( prev, s * p / 100 ) );
    1647                 if ( prev == curr ) {  /*  print  */  }
    1648                 free( curr );
    1649         }
    1650 }
    1651 \end{C++}
    1652 \vspace*{-10pt}
    1653 \caption{\lstinline{realloc} Shrink Benchmark}
    1654 \label{f:reallocShrinkBenchmark}
    1655 
    1656 \vspace*{10pt}
    1657 
    1658 %\setlength{\tabcolsep}{15pt}
    1659 \begin{tabular}{@{}ll@{}}
    1660 \multicolumn{1}{c}{\lstinline{realloc}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\lstinline{realloc} simulation} \\
    1661 \begin{C++}
    1662 struct S { size_t ca[DIM]; }; // varied 32, 64, 128, 256
    1663 enum { Ssize = sizeof( S ) };
    1664 for ( size_t t = 0; t < @10$'$000@; t += 1 ) {
    1665         S * sa = nullptr, * perturb = nullptr;
    1666         for ( size_t i = 0, s = Ssize; i < 10$'$000; i += 1, s += Ssize ) {
    1667                 sa = (S *)@realloc( sa, s );@
    1668 
    1669                 sa[i].ca[0] = i;
    1670                 if ( i % 1024 == 0 ) perturb = (S *)realloc( perturb, s );
    1671         }
    1672         free( sa );
    1673         free( perturb );
    1674 }
    1675 \end{C++}
    1676 &
    1677 \begin{C++}
    1678 struct S { size_t ca[DIM]; }; // varied 32, 64, 128, 256
    1679 enum { Ssize = sizeof( S ) };
    1680 for ( size_t t = 0; t < @100@; t += 1 ) {
    1681         S * sa = nullptr, * so = (S *)malloc( Ssize );
    1682         for ( size_t i = 0, s = Ssize; i < 10$'$000; i += 1, s += Ssize ) {
    1683                 sa = (S *)@malloc( s )@;                        // simulate realloc
    1684                 memcpy( sa, so, s - Ssize );    // so one smaller
    1685                 sa[i].ca[0] = i;
    1686                 free( so );
    1687                 so = sa;
    1688         }
    1689         free( sa );
    1690 }
    1691 \end{C++}
    1692 \end{tabular}
    1693 \caption{\lstinline{realloc} Grow Benchmark}
    1694 \label{f:reallocGrowBenchmark}
    1695 
    1696 \vspace*{20pt}
    1697 
    1698 \hspace*{-17pt}
    1699 \setlength{\tabcolsep}{-13pt}
    1700 \begin{tabular}{@{}l@{\hspace*{-5pt}{\vrule height 1.05in}\hspace*{-5pt}}l@{}}
    1701 \begin{tabular}{@{}lll@{}}
    1702 \input{prolog.realloc.tex} & \input{swift.realloc.tex} & \input{java.realloc.tex}
     2163Figure~\ref{fig:SpeedBenchFig} shows the pseudo code for the speed micro-benchmark.
     2164Each routine in the chain is called for N objects and then those allocated objects are used when calling the next routine in the allocation chain.
     2165This tests the latency of the memory allocator when multiple routines are chained together, \eg the call sequence malloc-realloc-free-calloc gives a complete picture of the major allocation routines when combined together.
     2166For each chain, the time is recorded to visualize performance of a memory allocator against each chain.
     2167
     2168\begin{figure}
     2169\centering
     2170\begin{lstlisting}[morekeywords={foreach}]
     2171Main Thread
     2172        create worker threads
     2173        foreach ( allocation chain )
     2174                note time T1
     2175                ...
     2176                note time T2
     2177                chain_speed = (T2 - T1) / number-of-worker-threads * N )
     2178Worker Thread
     2179        initialize variables
     2180        ...
     2181        foreach ( routine in allocation chain )
     2182                call routine N times
     2183\end{lstlisting}
     2184%\includegraphics[width=1\textwidth]{figures/bench-speed.eps}
     2185\caption{Speed Benchmark}
     2186\label{fig:SpeedBenchFig}
     2187\end{figure}
     2188
     2189The adjustment knobs for memory usage are:
     2190\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2191\item[max:]
     2192maximum object size.
     2193\item[min:]
     2194minimum object size.
     2195\item[step:]
     2196object size increment.
     2197\item[distro:]
     2198object size distribution.
     2199\item[objects:]
     2200number of objects per thread.
     2201\item[workers:]
     2202number of worker threads.
     2203\end{description}
     2204
     2205
     2206\subsubsection{Memory Micro-Benchmark}
     2207\label{s:MemoryMicroBenchmark}
     2208
     2209The memory micro-benchmark measures the memory overhead of an allocator.
     2210It allocates a number of dynamic objects and reads @/proc/self/proc/maps@ to get the total memory requested by the allocator from the OS.
     2211It calculates the memory overhead by computing the difference between the memory the allocator requests from the OS and the memory that the program allocates.
     2212This micro-benchmark is like Larson and stresses the ability of an allocator to deal with object sharing.
     2213
     2214Figure~\ref{fig:MemoryBenchFig} shows the pseudo code for the memory micro-benchmark.
     2215It creates a producer-consumer scenario with K producer threads and each producer has M consumer threads.
     2216A producer has a separate buffer for each consumer and allocates N objects of random sizes following a configurable distribution for each consumer.
     2217A consumer frees these objects.
     2218After every memory operation, program memory usage is recorded throughout the runtime.
     2219This data is used to visualize the memory usage and consumption for the program.
     2220
     2221\begin{figure}
     2222\centering
     2223\begin{lstlisting}
     2224Main Thread
     2225        print memory snapshot
     2226        create producer threads
     2227Producer Thread (K)
     2228        set free start
     2229        create consumer threads
     2230        for ( N )
     2231                allocate memory
     2232                print memory snapshot
     2233Consumer Thread (M)
     2234        wait while ( allocations < free start )
     2235        for ( N )
     2236                free memory
     2237                print memory snapshot
     2238\end{lstlisting}
     2239%\includegraphics[width=1\textwidth]{figures/bench-memory.eps}
     2240\caption{Memory Footprint Micro-Benchmark}
     2241\label{fig:MemoryBenchFig}
     2242\end{figure}
     2243
     2244The global adjustment knobs for this micro-benchmark are:
     2245\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2246\item[producer (K):]
     2247sets the number of producer threads.
     2248\item[consumer (M):]
     2249sets number of consumers threads for each producer.
     2250\item[round:]
     2251sets production and consumption round size.
     2252\end{description}
     2253
     2254The adjustment knobs for object allocation are:
     2255\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2256\item[max:]
     2257maximum object size.
     2258\item[min:]
     2259minimum object size.
     2260\item[step:]
     2261object size increment.
     2262\item[distro:]
     2263object size distribution.
     2264\item[objects (N):]
     2265number of objects per thread.
     2266\end{description}
     2267
     2268
     2269\section{Performance}
     2270\label{c:Performance}
     2271
     2272This section uses the micro-benchmarks from Section~\ref{s:Benchmarks} to test a number of current memory allocators, including llheap.
     2273The goal is to see if llheap is competitive with the currently popular memory allocators.
     2274
     2275
     2276\subsection{Machine Specification}
     2277
     2278The performance experiments were run on two different multi-core architectures (x64 and ARM) to determine if there is consistency across platforms:
     2279\begin{itemize}[topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
     2280\item
     2281\textbf{Algol} Huawei ARM TaiShan 2280 V2 Kunpeng 920, 24-core socket $\times$ 4, 2.6 GHz, GCC version 9.4.0
     2282\item
     2283\textbf{Nasus} AMD EPYC 7662, 64-core socket $\times$ 2, 2.0 GHz, GCC version 9.3.0
     2284\end{itemize}
     2285
     2286
     2287\subsection{Existing Memory Allocators}
     2288\label{sec:curAllocatorSec}
     2289
     2290With dynamic allocation being an important feature of C, there are many stand-alone memory allocators that have been designed for different purposes.
     2291For this work, 7 of the most popular and widely used memory allocators were selected for comparison, along with llheap.
     2292
     2293\paragraph{llheap (\textsf{llh})}
     2294is the thread-safe allocator from Chapter~\ref{c:Allocator}
    17032295\\
    1704 \multicolumn{3}{@{}c@{}}{\lstinline{realloc}, 10,000 repetitions}
    1705 \end{tabular}
    1706 &
    1707 \setlength{\tabcolsep}{-10pt}
    1708 \begin{tabular}{@{}lll@{}}
    1709 \input{prolog.reallocsim.tex} & \input{swift.reallocsim.tex} & \input{java.reallocsim.tex}
     2296\textbf{Version:} 1.0
     2297\textbf{Configuration:} Compiled with dynamic linking, but without statistics or debugging.\\
     2298\textbf{Compilation command:} @make@
     2299
     2300\paragraph{glibc (\textsf{glc})}
     2301\cite{glibc} is the default glibc thread-safe allocator.
    17102302\\
    1711 \multicolumn{3}{@{}c@{}}{\lstinline{realloc} simulation, 100 repetitions}
    1712 \end{tabular}
    1713 \end{tabular}
    1714 
    1715 \caption{\lstinline{realloc} Grow Results, x-axis in bytes, lower is better}
    1716 \label{f:reallocGrowResults}
    1717 \end{figure}
    1718 
    1719 
    1720 \subsubsection{Cache Benchmark}
    1721 \label{s:CacheBenchmark}
    1722 
    1723 The cache benchmarks attempt to look for false sharing (see Section~\ref{s:FalseSharing}).
    1724 Unfortunately, testing for allocator-induced false-sharing is difficult, because it is equivalent to searching for randomly conjoined allocations within a large storage space.
    1725 Figure~\ref{f:CacheBenchmark} shows a benchmark for program induced false-sharing, where pointers are passed among threads.
    1726 As a side effect, this benchmark is indirectly checking which allocator model is being used.
    1727 The program main runs the benchmark with 4, 8, 16, and 32 threads, passing each thread a separate array of dynamically allocated storage from its common heap with @ASIZE@ elements.
    1728 Each thread then traverse the array adding a value to each element (read and write).
    1729 The traversal is repeated T times.
    1730 Each thread frees the array at the end.
    1731 The experiment is run with a small and medium sized array.
    1732 If there is any heap sharing, the small array has a higher probability for false sharing, \eg the first and last array elements for different array can be juxtaposed in memory, and hence appear in the same cache line.
    1733 
    1734 \begin{figure}
    1735 \begin{C++}
    1736 enum { TIMES = 10$'$000$'$000$'$000, ASIZE = 3 }; $\C{// repetitions, array size 3 or 30}$
    1737 void * worker( void * arg ) {           $\C{// array passed from program main}$
    1738         volatile size_t * arr = (size_t *)arg; $\C{// volatile prevents code elision}$
    1739         for ( size_t  t = 0; t < TIMES / ASIZE; t += 1 ) $\C{// repeat experiment N times}$
    1740                 for ( size_t r = 0; r < ASIZE; r += 1 ) $\C{// iterate through array}$
    1741                         arr[r] += r;                    $\C{// read/write array elements}$
    1742         free( (void *)arr );                    $\C{// cast away volatile}$
    1743 }
    1744 \end{C++}
    1745 \vspace*{-5pt}
    1746 \caption{Cache False-Sharing Benchmark}
    1747 \label{f:CacheBenchmark}
    1748 \end{figure}
    1749 
    1750 Figure~\ref{f:cacheResults} shows the results for the cache benchmark run with array sizes 3 and 30.
    1751 Allocators glibc, llheap, mimalloc, and tbbmalloc show little or no false-sharing issues at both 3 and 30 array sizes, \ie all generate virtually the same result.
    1752 Note, on the Intel, there is a rise at 32 cores, because of an L3 cache shift at 16 cores; stepping to 32 cores introduces NUMA effects.
    1753 This result correlates with these allocators using a 1:1 allocator model.
    1754 Allocators hoard, jemalloc, and tcmalloc show false-sharing issues at both 3 and 30 array sizes, reducing performance by 2 times at size 3.
    1755 The @perf@ performance analyzer shows a large number of cache misses for these allocators, indicating false sharing.
    1756 This result correlates with these allocators using some form of heap sharing.
    1757 
    1758 \begin{figure}
    1759 \setlength{\tabcolsep}{-8pt}
    1760 \begin{tabular}{@{}l@{\hspace*{-5pt}{\vrule height 1.05in}\hspace*{-5pt}}l@{}}
    1761 \begin{tabular}{@{}lll@{}}
    1762 \input{prolog.cacheS.tex} & \input{swift.cacheS.tex} & \input{java.cacheS.tex}
     2303\textbf{Version:} Ubuntu GLIBC 2.31-0ubuntu9.7 2.31\\
     2304\textbf{Configuration:} Compiled by Ubuntu 20.04.\\
     2305\textbf{Compilation command:} N/A
     2306
     2307\paragraph{dlmalloc (\textsf{dl})}
     2308\cite{dlmalloc} is a thread-safe allocator that is single threaded and single heap.
     2309It maintains free-lists of different sizes to store freed dynamic memory.
    17632310\\
    1764 \multicolumn{3}{@{}c@{}}{3 Element Array}
    1765 \end{tabular}
    1766 &
    1767 \begin{tabular}{@{}lll@{}}
    1768 \input{prolog.cacheL.tex} & \input{swift.cacheL.tex} & \input{java.cacheL.tex}
     2311\textbf{Version:} 2.8.6\\
     2312\textbf{Configuration:} Compiled with preprocessor @USE_LOCKS@.\\
     2313\textbf{Compilation command:} @gcc -g3 -O3 -Wall -Wextra -fno-builtin-malloc -fno-builtin-calloc@ @-fno-builtin-realloc -fno-builtin-free -fPIC -shared -DUSE_LOCKS -o libdlmalloc.so malloc-2.8.6.c@
     2314
     2315\paragraph{hoard (\textsf{hrd})}
     2316\cite{hoard} is a thread-safe allocator that is multi-threaded and uses a heap layer framework. It has per-thread heaps that have thread-local free-lists, and a global shared heap.
    17692317\\
    1770 \multicolumn{3}{@{}c@{}}{30 Element Array}
    1771 \end{tabular}
    1772 \end{tabular}
    1773 \caption{Cache False-Sharing Results, x-axis in cores, lower is better}
    1774 \label{f:cacheResults}
    1775 \end{figure}
    1776 
    1777 
    1778 \subsection{Ownership Benchmark}
    1779 
    1780 % In multi-threaded allocators with H:T or 1:1 structure, one thread can allocation storage, send it to another thread, and the receiving thread deallocates it.
    1781 % This raises the question of where the storage is returned: the heap (area) from which it was allocated or a different heap;
    1782 % in some cases there is no choice, when storage is bound to its allocation area.
    1783 % If storage is returned to its allocation heap, there are concurrency issues if the allocation area is shared.
    1784 % If the storage is returned to another heap, there can still be concurrency issues, but the real problem is storage drain in the allocation heap and storage bloat in the deallocation heap, without a secondary mechanism to redistribute storage.
    1785 % This choice is the \newterm{ownership problem}.
    1786 
    1787 Historically the Larson benchmark~\cite{larson99memory} is purported to test for ownership issues, but in actuality, the benchmark is a complex simulation of a server environment.
    1788 Multiple threads allocate and free a number of random-sized objects within a size range.
    1789 Each thread runs for a time period, and at termination, creates a child thread and passes its array of objects as an argument, which does not require synchronization.
    1790 The number of thread generations varies with thread speed.
    1791 % It calculates memory operations per second as an indicator of the memory allocator's performance.
    1792 Because the benchmark performs multiple kinds of tests, it is impossible to extracted just the remote-free rate.
    1793 
    1794 Therefore, a new benchmark is created to measure the asynchronous transfer cost from the deallocating to the allocating thread (remote free).
    1795 However, the allocating thread must first asynchronously transferred the allocations to the deallocating thread.
    1796 This cost needs to be mitigated so it does not mask the remote-free measurement.
    1797 To accomplish this, a thread batches its allocations (lots of 100), and atomically exchanges this batch with a freeing thread, which then individually frees the batch components.
    1798 Hence, the cost of the asynchronous allocation transfer is much less than the individual cost of the remote free.
    1799 
    1800 Figure~\ref{f:OwnershipBenchmark} shows the pseudo-code for the benchmark.
    1801 There is a global matrix of allocation addresses: one row for each thread and one column for each batch.
    1802 Each thread starts at a specific row and fills that row with two different sized allocations.
    1803 A thread then loops until it atomically exchanges its row pointer with another thread's row pointer.
    1804 The storage in the received batch is then remote freed, the batch row is reset with new allocations, and the process repeats for a timed duration.
    1805 As well, after each allocation, an integer is written into the storage, and that integer is read before the deallocation.
    1806 
    1807 Figure~\ref{f:Ownership} (a)--(c) shows the throughput of the ownership benchmark.
    1808 The results are divided into three groups.
    1809 glibc and tbbmalloc are slowest because of many system calls to @futex@. % and @nano_sleep@.
    1810 Figure~\ref{f:Ownership}~(d) shows the system time climbing during scaling on the AMD;
    1811 the other architectures are similar.
    1812 llheap and mimalloc are next, as these allocators do not batch remote frees, so every free requires locking.
    1813 jemalloc, hoard, and tcmalloc are fastest, as these allocators batch remote frees, reducing locking.
    1814 For 1:1 allocators, eager remote return makes sense as the returned storage can be reused during the owning thread's lifetime.
    1815 For N:T allocators, lazy remote return using batching makes sense as heaps outlive threads so eventually returned storage can be used by any existing or new thread.
    1816 Batching is possible for 1:1 allocators, but results in complexity and external fragmentation, which is only warranted in certain cases.
    1817 
    1818 \begin{figure}
    1819 \begin{cfa}
    1820 void * batches[MaxThread][MaxBatch];                            $\C{// thread global}$
    1821 struct Aligned { CALIGN void * * col; };
    1822 volatile Aligned allocations[MaxThread];
    1823 
    1824 Aligned batch = { batches[id] };                                        $\C{// thread local}$
    1825 size_t cnt = 0, a = 0;
    1826 for ( ; ! stop; ) {                                                                     $\C{// loop for T second}$
    1827         for ( ssize_t i = Batch - 1; i >= 0; i -= 1 ) { $\C{// allocations, oppose order from frees}$
    1828                 batch.col[i] = malloc( i & 1 ? 42 : 192 );      $\C{// two allocation sizes}$
    1829                 *(int *)batch.col[i] = 42;                                      $\C{// write storage}$
    1830         }
    1831         Aligned obatch = batch;
    1832         while ( (batch.col = Fas( allocations[a].col, batch.col )) == obatch.col || batch.col == nullptr ) { // atomic exchange
    1833                 if ( stop ) goto fini;
    1834                 a = (a + 1) % Threads;                                          $\C{// try another batch}$
    1835         }
    1836         for ( size_t i = 0; i < Batch; i += 1 ) {               $\C{// deallocations}$
    1837                 if ( *(int *)batch.col[i] != 42 ) abort();      $\C{// read storage check}$
    1838                 free( batch.col[i] );                                           $\C{// remote free}$
    1839         }
    1840         cnt += Batch;                                                                   $\C{// sum allocations/frees}$
    1841         a = (a + 1) % Threads;                                                  $\C{// try another batch}$
    1842 }  fini: ;
    1843 \end{cfa}
    1844 \caption{Ownership Benchmark Outline}
    1845 \label{f:OwnershipBenchmark}
    1846 \end{figure}
    1847 
    1848 \begin{figure}
    1849 \hspace*{-14pt}
    1850 \setlength{\tabcolsep}{-13pt}
    1851 \begin{tabular}{@{}lll@{\hspace*{-6pt}{\vrule height 2.05in}\hspace*{-6pt}}l@{}}
    1852 \input{prolog.ownership.tex}
    1853 &
    1854 \input{swift.ownership.tex}
    1855 &
    1856 \input{java.ownership.tex}
    1857 &
    1858 \input{swift.ownershipres.tex}
    1859 \end{tabular}
    1860 \caption{Ownership Results, x-axis is cores, (a)--(c) higher is better, (d) lower is better}
    1861 \label{f:Ownership}
    1862 \end{figure}
    1863 
    1864 
    1865 \subsection{Delay Benchmark}
    1866 
    1867 The delay benchmark is a torture test of abrupt allocation patterns looking for delays that increase latency.
    1868 A flat response across the tests means there are few or no allocator-induced pauses.
    1869 The test examines small and large requests, where small requests are handled by the heap (@sbrk@) and large requests are handled by the OS (@mmap@).
    1870 Putting large requests in the heap causes external fragmentation when freed, unless an allocator subdivided the space, leading to pauses.
    1871 The @mallopt@ function provides the option @M_MMAP_THRESHOLD@ to set the division point in bytes for requests that cannot be satisfied by an allocator's free list.
    1872 Each @sbrk@ test in this benchmark is repeated 5,000,000,000 times and each @mmap@ test is performed 1,000,000 times;
    1873 the different repetitions result from the high cost of the OS calls making the experiment run too long.
    1874 A \emph{long running} experiment, rather than short experiments with averaged results, is searching for blowup scenarios in time and/or space.
    1875 Finally, scaling is tested with 4, 8, 16, and 32 pinned threads, where the threads synchronize between tests using a @pthread@ barrier.
    1876 In all experiments, allocated storage has its first and last byte assigned a character to simulate usage.
    1877 
    1878 The tests are performed in this order:
    1879 \begin{enumerate}[leftmargin=18pt,topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
    1880 \item
    1881 @x = malloc( 0 ) / free( x )@:
    1882 handles the pathological case of an zero-sized allocation and free.
    1883 The POSIX standard allows two meanings for this case: return @NULL@ or a unique pointer, where both can be freed.
    1884 The fastest implementation is to return @NULL@, rather than create a fictitious allocation.
    1885 However, this overloads the @malloc@ return-value to mean error or a zero-sized allocation.
    1886 To comply with the POSIX standard, the check for running out of memory is:
    1887 \begin{uC++}
    1888 if ( malloc( 0 ) == NULL && errno == ENOMEM ) ... // no memory
    1889 \end{uC++}
    1890 Unfortunately, most programmers assume @NULL@ means an error, \eg two tests in the SPEC CPU benchmark fail if @NULL@ is returned for a zero-sized allocation.
    1891 Hence, returning @NULL@ for a zero-sized allocation is an impractical allocator option.
    1892 
    1893 \item
    1894 @free( NULL )@: handles the pathological case of freeing a non-existent or zero-byte allocation.
    1895 Non-existent allocations occur as algorithm base-cases, such as an unused pointer set to @NULL@.
    1896 Having the allocator ignore this case eliminates checking for an erroneous @free@ call on a @NULL@ value.
    1897 This call should be fast.
    1898 
    1899 \item
    1900 \label{expS}
    1901 @x = malloc( 42 ) / free( x )@:
    1902 handles a fixed-sized allocation and free.
    1903 
    1904 \item
    1905 @x[0..100) = malloc( 42 ) / free( x[0..100) )@:
    1906 handles a group of fixed-sized allocations and group free.
    1907 
    1908 \item
    1909 @x[0..1000) = malloc( 42 ) / free( x[0..1000) )@:
    1910 handles a larger group of fixed-sized allocations and group free.
    1911 
    1912 \item
    1913 @x[0..100) = malloc( 42 ) / free( x(100..0] )@:
    1914 handles a group of fixed-sized allocations and group free in reverse order.
    1915 
    1916 \item
    1917 \label{expE}
    1918 @x[0..1000) = malloc( 42 ) / free( x(1000..0] )@:
    1919 handles a larger group of fixed-sized allocations and group free in reverse order.
    1920 
    1921 \item
    1922 @x = malloc( [0..100) ) / free( x )@:
    1923 handles a variable-sized allocation and free.
    1924 
    1925 \item
    1926 @x[0..100) = malloc( [0..100) ) / free( x[0..100) )@:
    1927 handles a group of variable-sized allocations and group free.
    1928 
    1929 \item
    1930 @x[0..1000) = malloc( [0..1000) ) / free( x[0..1000) )@:
    1931 handles a larger group of variable-sized allocations and group free.
    1932 
    1933 \item
    1934 @x[0..100) = malloc( [0..100) ) / free( x(100..0] )@:
    1935 handles a group of variable-sized allocations and group free in reverse order.
    1936 
    1937 \item
    1938 @x[0..1000) = malloc( [0..1000) ) / free( x(1000..0] )@:
    1939 handles a larger group of variable-sized allocations and group free in reverse order.
    1940 \end{enumerate}
    1941 Experiments \ref{expS}--\ref{expE} are repeated with a fixed-sized allocation of 1,048,576, where @M_MMAP_THRESHOLD@ is set to 524,288 to force the use of @mmap@, resulting in 17 experiments.
    1942 Because the @mmap@ experiments test the operating-system memory-management not the allocators, the variable-sized @mmap@ experiments are deemed unnecessary.
    1943 A test with random-sized @sbrk@ allocations @malloc( [0..N) random )@ was performed, but the results are the same as fixed sized as all the allocation sizes are quickly accessed over the large number of experiment repetitions.
    1944 That is, once the buckets or superblocks for the allocation sizes are created, access order is irrelevant.
    1945 
    1946 Figures~\ref{f:LatencyExpARM}--\ref{f:LatencyExpIntel} show the results of the @sbrk@ and @mmap@ experiments across the seven allocators with parallel scaling.
    1947 The average of the N threads is graphed for each experiment and the standard deviation is the error bar.
    1948 For the @sbrk@ graphs, a good allocator result should be low (smaller is better), flat across scaling (cores), with no error bars (STD $\approx$ 0) indicating no jitter (pauses) among the threads.
    1949 The result patterns across the three hardware architectures are similar, with differences correlating to CPU speed and cache differences.
    1950 
    1951 The key observation across the @sbrk@ graphs is that llheap and mimalloc are always at the bottom (lower is better) and flat with respect to scaling.
    1952 The only exception is on the Intel, where all allocators experienced similar non-flat behaviour, because of the L3 cache shift at 16 cores.
    1953 Some anomalies are tcmalloc and hoard experiencing large jitter (see error bars) and scaling issues in some experiments, which is correlated with poorer results;
    1954 jemalloc has significant scaling issues for experiments 5, 7, 10, and 12, resulting from large numbers of @futex@ calls, possibly related to @madvise@ for returning storage to the OS;
    1955 and glibc and tbbmalloc are often slower than the other allocators (symbols are on top of each other).
    1956 
    1957 The key observation across the @mmap@ graphs is that only three allocators, glibc, llheap, and tbbmalloc honoured the @mmap@ threshold request (symbols are on top of each other).
    1958 The other allocators made no @mmap@ calls, so their results are extremely low.
    1959 The exception is hoard, which did make @mmap@ calls that were uncorrelated with @M_MMAP_THRESHOLD@, and had significant jitter due to a large number of @futex@ calls.
    1960 For the allocators using @mmap@, there should be some scaling effect as more threads make more system calls.
    1961 
    1962 \begin{figure}
    1963 \input{prolog.tex}
    1964 \vspace*{-20pt}
    1965 \caption{Delay Results, ARM, x-axis is cores, lower is better}
    1966 \label{f:LatencyExpARM}
    1967 \end{figure}
    1968 
    1969 \begin{figure}
    1970 \input{swift.tex}
    1971 \vspace*{-20pt}
    1972 \caption{Delay Results, AMD, x-axis is cores, lower is better}
    1973 \label{f:LatencyExpAMD}
    1974 \end{figure}
    1975 
    1976 \begin{figure}
    1977 \input{java.tex}
    1978 \vspace*{-20pt}
    1979 \caption{Delay Results, Intel, x-axis is cores, lower is better}
    1980 \label{f:LatencyExpIntel}
    1981 \end{figure}
    1982 
    1983 Figures~\ref{f:LatencyResARM}--\ref{f:LatencyResIntel} show a time/space perspective across the entire experiment.
    1984 The user, system, and real times along with the maximum memory usage are presented for the @sbrk@ and @mmap@ experiments.
    1985 The result patterns across the three hardware architectures are similar.
    1986 If an allocator disappears in a graph, its result is less than 1 on a logarithmic scale.
    1987 Surprisingly, there are large (2 orders of magnitude) time differences among the allocators.
    1988 
    1989 \begin{figure}
    1990 \hspace*{15pt}
    1991 \input{prolog2.tex}
    1992 \vspace*{-20pt}
    1993 \caption{Delay Results, ARM, x-axis is cores, lower is better}
    1994 \label{f:LatencyResARM}
    1995 
    1996 \hspace*{15pt}
    1997 \input{swift2.tex}
    1998 \vspace*{-20pt}
    1999 \caption{Delay Results, AMD, x-axis is cores, lower is better}
    2000 \label{f:LatencyResAMD}
    2001 
    2002 \hspace*{15pt}
    2003 \input{java2.tex}
    2004 \vspace*{-20pt}
    2005 \caption{Delay Results, Intel, x-axis is cores, lower is better}
    2006 \label{f:LatencyResIntel}
    2007 \end{figure}
    2008 
    2009 For @sbrk@ graphs, the user time should be high and scale with cores, the system time very low, the real time constant, and the maximum memory scales with cores.
    2010 For user time, llheap and mimalloc, are at the bottom (lower is better) and all allocators have linear scaling as cores increase.
    2011 The remaining allocators are slower by one to two orders of magnitude, which correlates with high results in the experiments.
    2012 For system time jemalloc has non-trivial system time that scales with cores, caused by a large number of @futex@ calls.
    2013 The remaining allocators have virtually zero system time (not on graph).
    2014 The exception is a random anomaly where allocators had small amounts of system time, which appeared/disappeared on different experiment runs as if something slightly perturbs the experiment (OS?) over its 20 hour run.
    2015 For real time, llheap and mimalloc, take the least overall time and all allocators except jemalloc have flat performance.
    2016 For maximum memory, all allocators scale with cores, and there is a rough inverse correlation between user time and memory usage, \ie time \vs speed tradeoff.
    2017 
    2018 For @mmap@ graphs, only used by glibc, llheap, and tbbmalloc, the user time should be low and scale with cores, the system time should be high and scale with cores, the real time constant, and the maximum memory scales with cores.
    2019 For user time, glibc, llheap, and tbbmalloc, are at the bottom because there are no @sbrk@ requests.
    2020 The remaining allocators all use a non-trivial amount of time handling the large requests, except mimalloc, which handles the large request identically to a small request.
    2021 Interestingly, the amount of time varies by one to two orders of magnitude.
    2022 For system time, glibc, llheap, and tbbmalloc, are at the top because of the OS calls to @mmap@.
    2023 Interestingly, the remaining allocators still use orders of magnitude of system time, except mimalloc ($<$ 1 so invisible).
    2024 For real time, all allocators scale linearly with cores, except mimalloc, which is flat.
    2025 For maximum memory, all allocators scale with cores, and there is a rough inverse correlation between user time and memory usage, \ie time \vs speed tradeoff.
    2026 
    2027 
    2028 \subsection{Out of Memory Benchmark}
    2029 
    2030 Figure~\ref{f:OutMemoryBenchmark} show a \CC program with unbounded memory allocation.
    2031 The program is run in a shell with restricted data size.
    2032 Hence, it quickly runs out of memory, causing @malloc@, which is called by \CC @new@, to return a @nullptr@ with @errno@ set to @ENOMEM@.
    2033 Routine @new@ sees the @nullptr@ and calls the handler routine set by @set_new_handler@, which prints a message, and resets the default handler to raise the @bad_alloc@ exception caught in the program main.
    2034 Note, to raise an exception requires dynamic allocation, but \CC preallocates a few special exception, like @bad_alloc@, for special cases.
    2035 
    2036 All allocators printed the correct output except hoard, mimalloc, and tcmalloc.
    2037 Hoard prints @MAP_FAILED@ and hangs spinning on a spinlock in a complex call chain.
    2038 mimalloc aborts the program because it incorrectly attempts to raise the @bad_alloc@ exception itself if and only it is compiled with \CC, whereas it is compiled with C.
    2039 The correct design is to return a @nullptr@ with @errno@ set to @ENOMEM@ to \CC @new@, which then raises the exception;
    2040 hence, the allocator can be compiled with C or \CC.
    2041 tcmalloc prints the correct output but adds ``allocation failed'' messages.
    2042 
    2043 \begin{figure}
    2044 \begin{tabular}{@{\hspace*{\parindentlnth}}l@{\hspace*{2\parindentlnth}}l@{}@{}}
    2045 \begin{cfa}
    2046 static void handler() {
    2047         cout << "Memory allocation failed\n";
    2048         set_new_handler( nullptr );
    2049 }
    2050 
    2051 
    2052 \end{cfa}
    2053 &
    2054 \begin{cfa}
    2055 int main() {
    2056         set_new_handler( handler );
    2057         try {
    2058                 for ( ;; ) pass( new char[50] );        // unbounded allocation
    2059         } catch( const bad_alloc & e ) { cout << e.what() << endl; }
    2060 }
    2061 \end{cfa}
    2062 \end{tabular}
    2063 \caption{Out of Memory Benchmark}
    2064 \label{f:OutMemoryBenchmark}
     2318\textbf{Version:} 3.13\\
     2319\textbf{Configuration:} Compiled with hoard's default configurations and @Makefile@.\\
     2320\textbf{Compilation command:} @make all@
     2321
     2322\paragraph{jemalloc (\textsf{je})}
     2323\cite{jemalloc} is a thread-safe allocator that uses multiple arenas. Each thread is assigned an arena.
     2324Each arena has chunks that contain contagious memory regions of same size. An arena has multiple chunks that contain regions of multiple sizes.
     2325\\
     2326\textbf{Version:} 5.2.1\\
     2327\textbf{Configuration:} Compiled with jemalloc's default configurations and @Makefile@.\\
     2328\textbf{Compilation command:} @autogen.sh; configure; make; make install@
     2329
     2330\paragraph{ptmalloc3 (\textsf{pt3})}
     2331\cite{ptmalloc3} is a modification of dlmalloc.
     2332It is a thread-safe multi-threaded memory allocator that uses multiple heaps.
     2333ptmalloc3 heap has similar design to dlmalloc's heap.
     2334\\
     2335\textbf{Version:} 1.8\\
     2336\textbf{Configuration:} Compiled with ptmalloc3's @Makefile@ using option ``linux-shared''.\\
     2337\textbf{Compilation command:} @make linux-shared@
     2338
     2339\paragraph{rpmalloc (\textsf{rp})}
     2340\cite{rpmalloc} is a thread-safe allocator that is multi-threaded and uses per-thread heap.
     2341Each heap has multiple size-classes and each size-class contains memory regions of the relevant size.
     2342\\
     2343\textbf{Version:} 1.4.1\\
     2344\textbf{Configuration:} Compiled with rpmalloc's default configurations and ninja build system.\\
     2345\textbf{Compilation command:} @python3 configure.py; ninja@
     2346
     2347\paragraph{tbb malloc (\textsf{tbb})}
     2348\cite{tbbmalloc} is a thread-safe allocator that is multi-threaded and uses a private heap for each thread.
     2349Each private-heap has multiple bins of different sizes. Each bin contains free regions of the same size.
     2350\\
     2351\textbf{Version:} intel tbb 2020 update 2, tbb\_interface\_version == 11102\\
     2352\textbf{Configuration:} Compiled with tbbmalloc's default configurations and @Makefile@.\\
     2353\textbf{Compilation command:} @make@
     2354
     2355% \subsection{Experiment Environment}
     2356% We used our micro benchmark suite (FIX ME: cite mbench) to evaluate these memory allocators Section~\ref{sec:curAllocatorSec} and our own memory allocator uHeap Section~\ref{sec:allocatorSec}.
     2357
     2358\subsection{Experiments}
     2359
     2360Each micro-benchmark is configured and run with each of the allocators,
     2361The less time an allocator takes to complete a benchmark the better so lower in the graphs is better, except for the Memory micro-benchmark graphs.
     2362All graphs use log scale on the Y-axis, except for the Memory micro-benchmark (see Section~\ref{s:MemoryMicroBenchmark}).
     2363
     2364%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2365%% CHURN
     2366%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2367
     2368\subsubsection{Churn Micro-Benchmark}
     2369
     2370Churn tests allocators for speed under intensive dynamic memory usage (see Section~\ref{s:ChurnBenchmark}).
     2371This experiment was run with following configurations:
     2372\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2373\item[thread:]
     23741, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 48
     2375\item[spots:]
     237616
     2377\item[obj:]
     2378100,000
     2379\item[max:]
     2380500
     2381\item[min:]
     238250
     2383\item[step:]
     238450
     2385\item[distro:]
     2386fisher
     2387\end{description}
     2388
     2389% -maxS          : 500
     2390% -minS          : 50
     2391% -stepS                 : 50
     2392% -distroS       : fisher
     2393% -objN          : 100000
     2394% -cSpots                : 16
     2395% -threadN       : 1, 2, 4, 8, 16
     2396
     2397Figure~\ref{fig:churn} shows the results for algol and nasus.
     2398The X-axis shows the number of threads;
     2399the Y-axis shows the total experiment time.
     2400Each allocator's performance for each thread is shown in different colors.
     2401
     2402\begin{figure}
     2403\centering
     2404    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/churn} } \\
     2405    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/churn} }
     2406\caption{Churn}
     2407\label{fig:churn}
     2408\end{figure}
     2409
     2410\paragraph{Assessment}
     2411All allocators did well in this micro-benchmark, except for \textsf{dl} on the ARM.
     2412\textsf{dl}'s is the slowest, indicating some small bottleneck with respect to the other allocators.
     2413\textsf{je} is the fastest, with only a small benefit over the other allocators.
     2414% llheap is slightly slower because it uses ownership, where many of the allocations have remote frees, which requires locking.
     2415% When llheap is compiled without ownership, its performance is the same as the other allocators (not shown).
     2416
     2417%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2418%% THRASH
     2419%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2420
     2421\subsubsection{Cache Thrash}
     2422\label{sec:cache-thrash-perf}
     2423
     2424Thrash tests memory allocators for active false sharing (see Section~\ref{sec:benchThrashSec}).
     2425This experiment was run with following configurations:
     2426\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2427\item[threads:]
     24281, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 48
     2429\item[iterations:]
     24301,000
     2431\item[cacheRW:]
     24321,000,000
     2433\item[size:]
     24341
     2435\end{description}
     2436
     2437% * Each allocator was tested for its performance across different number of threads.
     2438% Experiment was repeated for each allocator for 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 threads by setting the configuration -threadN.
     2439
     2440Figure~\ref{fig:cacheThrash} shows the results for algol and nasus.
     2441The X-axis shows the number of threads;
     2442the Y-axis shows the total experiment time.
     2443Each allocator's performance for each thread is shown in different colors.
     2444
     2445\begin{figure}
     2446\centering
     2447    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/cache_thrash_0-thrash} } \\
     2448    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/cache_thrash_0-thrash} }
     2449\caption{Cache Thrash}
     2450\label{fig:cacheThrash}
     2451\end{figure}
     2452
     2453\paragraph{Assessment}
     2454All allocators did well in this micro-benchmark, except for \textsf{dl} and \textsf{pt3}.
     2455\textsf{dl} uses a single heap for all threads so it is understandable that it generates so much active false-sharing.
     2456Requests from different threads are dealt with sequentially by the single heap (using a single lock), which can allocate objects to different threads on the same cache line.
     2457\textsf{pt3} uses the T:H model, so multiple threads can use one heap, but the active false-sharing is less than \textsf{dl}.
     2458The rest of the memory allocators generate little or no active false-sharing.
     2459
     2460%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2461%% SCRATCH
     2462%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2463
     2464\subsubsection{Cache Scratch}
     2465
     2466Scratch tests memory allocators for program-induced allocator-preserved passive false-sharing (see Section~\ref{s:CacheScratch}).
     2467This experiment was run with following configurations:
     2468\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2469\item[threads:]
     24701, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 48
     2471\item[iterations:]
     24721,000
     2473\item[cacheRW:]
     24741,000,000
     2475\item[size:]
     24761
     2477\end{description}
     2478
     2479% * Each allocator was tested for its performance across different number of threads.
     2480% Experiment was repeated for each allocator for 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 threads by setting the configuration -threadN.
     2481
     2482Figure~\ref{fig:cacheScratch} shows the results for algol and nasus.
     2483The X-axis shows the number of threads;
     2484the Y-axis shows the total experiment time.
     2485Each allocator's performance for each thread is shown in different colors.
     2486
     2487\begin{figure}
     2488\centering
     2489    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/cache_scratch_0-scratch} } \\
     2490    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/cache_scratch_0-scratch} }
     2491\caption{Cache Scratch}
     2492\label{fig:cacheScratch}
     2493\end{figure}
     2494
     2495\paragraph{Assessment}
     2496This micro-benchmark divides the allocators into two groups.
     2497First is the high-performer group: \textsf{llh}, \textsf{je}, and \textsf{rp}.
     2498These memory allocators generate little or no passive false-sharing and their performance difference is negligible.
     2499Second is the low-performer group, which includes the rest of the memory allocators.
     2500These memory allocators have significant program-induced passive false-sharing, where \textsf{hrd}'s is the worst performing allocator.
     2501All of the allocators in this group are sharing heaps among threads at some level.
     2502
     2503Interestingly, allocators such as \textsf{hrd} and \textsf{glc} performed well in micro-benchmark cache thrash (see Section~\ref{sec:cache-thrash-perf}), but, these allocators are among the low performers in the cache scratch.
     2504It suggests these allocators do not actively produce false-sharing, but preserve program-induced passive false sharing.
     2505
     2506%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2507%% SPEED
     2508%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2509
     2510\subsubsection{Speed Micro-Benchmark}
     2511
     2512Speed tests memory allocators for runtime latency (see Section~\ref{s:SpeedMicroBenchmark}).
     2513This experiment was run with following configurations:
     2514\begin{description}
     2515\item[max:]
     2516500
     2517\item[min:]
     251850
     2519\item[step:]
     252050
     2521\item[distro:]
     2522fisher
     2523\item[objects:]
     2524100,000
     2525\item[workers:]
     25261, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 48
     2527\end{description}
     2528
     2529% -maxS    :  500
     2530% -minS    :  50
     2531% -stepS   :  50
     2532% -distroS :  fisher
     2533% -objN    :  1000000
     2534% -threadN    : \{ 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 \} *
     2535
     2536%* Each allocator was tested for its performance across different number of threads.
     2537%Experiment was repeated for each allocator for 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 threads by setting the configuration -threadN.
     2538
     2539Figures~\ref{fig:speed-3-malloc} to~\ref{fig:speed-14-malloc-calloc-realloc-free} show 12 figures, one figure for each chain of the speed benchmark.
     2540The X-axis shows the number of threads;
     2541the Y-axis shows the total experiment time.
     2542Each allocator's performance for each thread is shown in different colors.
     2543
     2544\begin{itemize}[topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
     2545\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-3-malloc} shows results for chain: malloc
     2546\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-4-realloc} shows results for chain: realloc
     2547\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-5-free} shows results for chain: free
     2548\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-6-calloc} shows results for chain: calloc
     2549\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-7-malloc-free} shows results for chain: malloc-free
     2550\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-8-realloc-free} shows results for chain: realloc-free
     2551\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-9-calloc-free} shows results for chain: calloc-free
     2552\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-10-malloc-realloc} shows results for chain: malloc-realloc
     2553\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-11-calloc-realloc} shows results for chain: calloc-realloc
     2554\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-12-malloc-realloc-free} shows results for chain: malloc-realloc-free
     2555\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-13-calloc-realloc-free} shows results for chain: calloc-realloc-free
     2556\item Figure~\ref{fig:speed-14-malloc-calloc-realloc-free} shows results for chain: malloc-realloc-free-calloc
     2557\end{itemize}
     2558
     2559\paragraph{Assessment}
     2560This micro-benchmark divides the allocators into two groups: with and without @calloc@.
     2561@calloc@ uses @memset@ to set the allocated memory to zero, which dominates the cost of the allocation chain (large performance increase) and levels performance across the allocators.
     2562But the difference among the allocators in a @calloc@ chain still gives an idea of their relative performance.
     2563
     2564All allocators did well in this micro-benchmark across all allocation chains, except for \textsf{dl}, \textsf{pt3}, and \textsf{hrd}.
     2565Again, the low-performing allocators are sharing heaps among threads, so the contention causes performance increases with increasing numbers of threads.
     2566Furthermore, chains with @free@ can trigger coalescing, which slows the fast path.
     2567The high-performing allocators all illustrate low latency across the allocation chains, \ie there are no performance spikes as the chain lengths, that might be caused by contention and/or coalescing.
     2568Low latency is important for applications that are sensitive to unknown execution delays.
     2569
     2570%speed-3-malloc.eps
     2571\begin{figure}
     2572\centering
     2573    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-3-malloc} } \\
     2574    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-3-malloc} }
     2575\caption{Speed benchmark chain: malloc}
     2576\label{fig:speed-3-malloc}
     2577\end{figure}
     2578
     2579%speed-4-realloc.eps
     2580\begin{figure}
     2581\centering
     2582    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-4-realloc} } \\
     2583    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-4-realloc} }
     2584\caption{Speed benchmark chain: realloc}
     2585\label{fig:speed-4-realloc}
     2586\end{figure}
     2587
     2588%speed-5-free.eps
     2589\begin{figure}
     2590\centering
     2591    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-5-free} } \\
     2592    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-5-free} }
     2593\caption{Speed benchmark chain: free}
     2594\label{fig:speed-5-free}
     2595\end{figure}
     2596
     2597%speed-6-calloc.eps
     2598\begin{figure}
     2599\centering
     2600    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-6-calloc} } \\
     2601    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-6-calloc} }
     2602\caption{Speed benchmark chain: calloc}
     2603\label{fig:speed-6-calloc}
     2604\end{figure}
     2605
     2606%speed-7-malloc-free.eps
     2607\begin{figure}
     2608\centering
     2609    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-7-malloc-free} } \\
     2610    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-7-malloc-free} }
     2611\caption{Speed benchmark chain: malloc-free}
     2612\label{fig:speed-7-malloc-free}
     2613\end{figure}
     2614
     2615%speed-8-realloc-free.eps
     2616\begin{figure}
     2617\centering
     2618    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-8-realloc-free} } \\
     2619    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-8-realloc-free} }
     2620\caption{Speed benchmark chain: realloc-free}
     2621\label{fig:speed-8-realloc-free}
     2622\end{figure}
     2623
     2624%speed-9-calloc-free.eps
     2625\begin{figure}
     2626\centering
     2627    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-9-calloc-free} } \\
     2628    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-9-calloc-free} }
     2629\caption{Speed benchmark chain: calloc-free}
     2630\label{fig:speed-9-calloc-free}
     2631\end{figure}
     2632
     2633%speed-10-malloc-realloc.eps
     2634\begin{figure}
     2635\centering
     2636    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-10-malloc-realloc} } \\
     2637    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-10-malloc-realloc} }
     2638\caption{Speed benchmark chain: malloc-realloc}
     2639\label{fig:speed-10-malloc-realloc}
     2640\end{figure}
     2641
     2642%speed-11-calloc-realloc.eps
     2643\begin{figure}
     2644\centering
     2645    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-11-calloc-realloc} } \\
     2646    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-11-calloc-realloc} }
     2647\caption{Speed benchmark chain: calloc-realloc}
     2648\label{fig:speed-11-calloc-realloc}
     2649\end{figure}
     2650
     2651%speed-12-malloc-realloc-free.eps
     2652\begin{figure}
     2653\centering
     2654    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-12-malloc-realloc-free} } \\
     2655    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-12-malloc-realloc-free} }
     2656\caption{Speed benchmark chain: malloc-realloc-free}
     2657\label{fig:speed-12-malloc-realloc-free}
     2658\end{figure}
     2659
     2660%speed-13-calloc-realloc-free.eps
     2661\begin{figure}
     2662\centering
     2663    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-13-calloc-realloc-free} } \\
     2664    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-13-calloc-realloc-free} }
     2665\caption{Speed benchmark chain: calloc-realloc-free}
     2666\label{fig:speed-13-calloc-realloc-free}
     2667\end{figure}
     2668
     2669%speed-14-{m,c,re}alloc-free.eps
     2670\begin{figure}
     2671\centering
     2672    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/speed-14-m-c-re-alloc-free} } \\
     2673    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/speed-14-m-c-re-alloc-free} }
     2674\caption{Speed benchmark chain: malloc-calloc-realloc-free}
     2675\label{fig:speed-14-malloc-calloc-realloc-free}
     2676\end{figure}
     2677
     2678%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2679%% MEMORY
     2680%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
     2681
     2682\newpage
     2683\subsubsection{Memory Micro-Benchmark}
     2684\label{s:MemoryMicroBenchmark}
     2685
     2686This experiment is run with the following two configurations for each allocator.
     2687The difference between the two configurations is the number of producers and consumers.
     2688Configuration 1 has one producer and one consumer, and configuration 2 has 4 producers, where each producer has 4 consumers.
     2689
     2690\noindent
     2691Configuration 1:
     2692\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2693\item[producer (K):]
     26941
     2695\item[consumer (M):]
     26961
     2697\item[round:]
     2698100,000
     2699\item[max:]
     2700500
     2701\item[min:]
     270250
     2703\item[step:]
     270450
     2705\item[distro:]
     2706fisher
     2707\item[objects (N):]
     2708100,000
     2709\end{description}
     2710
     2711% -threadA :  1
     2712% -threadF :  1
     2713% -maxS    :  500
     2714% -minS    :  50
     2715% -stepS   :  50
     2716% -distroS :  fisher
     2717% -objN    :  100000
     2718% -consumeS:  100000
     2719
     2720\noindent
     2721Configuration 2:
     2722\begin{description}[itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
     2723\item[producer (K):]
     27244
     2725\item[consumer (M):]
     27264
     2727\item[round:]
     2728100,000
     2729\item[max:]
     2730500
     2731\item[min:]
     273250
     2733\item[step:]
     273450
     2735\item[distro:]
     2736fisher
     2737\item[objects (N):]
     2738100,000
     2739\end{description}
     2740
     2741% -threadA :  4
     2742% -threadF :  4
     2743% -maxS    :  500
     2744% -minS    :  50
     2745% -stepS   :  50
     2746% -distroS :  fisher
     2747% -objN    :  100000
     2748% -consumeS:  100000
     2749
     2750% \begin{table}[b]
     2751% \centering
     2752%     \begin{tabular}{ |c|c|c| }
     2753%      \hline
     2754%     Memory Allocator & Configuration 1 Result & Configuration 2 Result\\
     2755%      \hline
     2756%     llh & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-llh} & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-llh}\\
     2757%      \hline
     2758%     dl & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-dl} & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-dl}\\
     2759%      \hline
     2760%     glibc & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-glc} & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-glc}\\
     2761%      \hline
     2762%     hoard & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-hrd} & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-hrd}\\
     2763%      \hline
     2764%     je & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-je} & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-je}\\
     2765%      \hline
     2766%     pt3 & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-pt3} & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-pt3}\\
     2767%      \hline
     2768%     rp & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-rp} & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-rp}\\
     2769%      \hline
     2770%     tbb & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-tbb} & Figure~\ref{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-tbb}\\
     2771%      \hline
     2772%     \end{tabular}
     2773% \caption{Memory benchmark results}
     2774% \label{table:mem-benchmark-figs}
     2775% \end{table}
     2776% Table Section~\ref{table:mem-benchmark-figs} shows the list of figures that contain memory benchmark results.
     2777
     2778Figures~\ref{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-llh}{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-tbb} show 16 figures, two figures for each of the 8 allocators, one for each configuration.
     2779Each figure has 2 graphs, one for each experiment environment.
     2780Each graph has following 5 subgraphs that show memory usage and statistics throughout the micro-benchmark's lifetime.
     2781\begin{itemize}[topsep=3pt,itemsep=2pt,parsep=0pt]
     2782\item \textit{\textbf{current\_req\_mem(B)}} shows the amount of dynamic memory requested and currently in-use of the benchmark.
     2783\item \textit{\textbf{heap}}* shows the memory requested by the program (allocator) from the system that lies in the heap (@sbrk@) area.
     2784\item \textit{\textbf{mmap\_so}}* shows the memory requested by the program (allocator) from the system that lies in the @mmap@ area.
     2785\item \textit{\textbf{mmap}}* shows the memory requested by the program (allocator or shared libraries) from the system that lies in the @mmap@ area.
     2786\item \textit{\textbf{total\_dynamic}} shows the total usage of dynamic memory by the benchmark program, which is a sum of \textit{heap}, \textit{mmap}, and \textit{mmap\_so}.
     2787\end{itemize}
     2788* These statistics are gathered by monitoring a process's @/proc/self/maps@ file.
     2789
     2790The X-axis shows the time when the memory information is polled.
     2791The Y-axis shows the memory usage in bytes.
     2792
     2793For this experiment, the difference between the memory requested by the benchmark (\textit{current\_req\_mem(B)}) and the memory that the process has received from system (\textit{heap}, \textit{mmap}) should be minimum.
     2794This difference is the memory overhead caused by the allocator and shows the level of fragmentation in the allocator.
     2795
     2796\paragraph{Assessment}
     2797First, the differences in the shape of the curves between architectures (top ARM, bottom x64) is small, where the differences are in the amount of memory used.
     2798Hence, it is possible to focus on either the top or bottom graph.
     2799
     2800Second, the heap curve is 0 for four memory allocators: \textsf{hrd}, \textsf{je}, \textsf{pt3}, and \textsf{rp}, indicating these memory allocators only use @mmap@ to get memory from the system and ignore the @sbrk@ area.
     2801
     2802The total dynamic memory is higher for \textsf{hrd} and \textsf{tbb} than the other allocators.
     2803The main reason is the use of superblocks (see Section~\ref{s:ObjectContainers}) containing objects of the same size.
     2804These superblocks are maintained throughout the life of the program.
     2805
     2806\textsf{pt3} is the only memory allocator where the total dynamic memory goes down in the second half of the program lifetime when the memory is freed by the benchmark program.
     2807It makes pt3 the only memory allocator that gives memory back to the OS as it is freed by the program.
     2808
     2809% FOR 1 THREAD
     2810
     2811%mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-llh.eps
     2812\begin{figure}
     2813\centering
     2814    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-llh} } \\
     2815    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-llh} }
     2816\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-1 for llh memory allocator}
     2817\label{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-llh}
     2818\end{figure}
     2819
     2820%mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-dl.eps
     2821\begin{figure}
     2822\centering
     2823    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-dl} } \\
     2824    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-dl} }
     2825\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-1 for dl memory allocator}
     2826\label{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-dl}
     2827\end{figure}
     2828
     2829%mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-glc.eps
     2830\begin{figure}
     2831\centering
     2832    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-glc} } \\
     2833    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-glc} }
     2834\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-1 for glibc memory allocator}
     2835\label{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-glc}
     2836\end{figure}
     2837
     2838%mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-hrd.eps
     2839\begin{figure}
     2840\centering
     2841    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-hrd} } \\
     2842    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-hrd} }
     2843\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-1 for hoard memory allocator}
     2844\label{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-hrd}
     2845\end{figure}
     2846
     2847%mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-je.eps
     2848\begin{figure}
     2849\centering
     2850    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-je} } \\
     2851    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-je} }
     2852\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-1 for je memory allocator}
     2853\label{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-je}
     2854\end{figure}
     2855
     2856%mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-pt3.eps
     2857\begin{figure}
     2858\centering
     2859    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-pt3} } \\
     2860    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-pt3} }
     2861\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-1 for pt3 memory allocator}
     2862\label{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-pt3}
     2863\end{figure}
     2864
     2865%mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-rp.eps
     2866\begin{figure}
     2867\centering
     2868    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-rp} } \\
     2869    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-rp} }
     2870\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-1 for rp memory allocator}
     2871\label{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-rp}
     2872\end{figure}
     2873
     2874%mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-tbb.eps
     2875\begin{figure}
     2876\centering
     2877    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-tbb} } \\
     2878    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-tbb} }
     2879\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-1 for tbb memory allocator}
     2880\label{fig:mem-1-prod-1-cons-100-tbb}
     2881\end{figure}
     2882
     2883% FOR 4 THREADS
     2884
     2885%mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-llh.eps
     2886\begin{figure}
     2887\centering
     2888    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-llh} } \\
     2889    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-llh} }
     2890\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-2 for llh memory allocator}
     2891\label{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-llh}
     2892\end{figure}
     2893
     2894%mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-dl.eps
     2895\begin{figure}
     2896\centering
     2897    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-dl} } \\
     2898    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-dl} }
     2899\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-2 for dl memory allocator}
     2900\label{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-dl}
     2901\end{figure}
     2902
     2903%mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-glc.eps
     2904\begin{figure}
     2905\centering
     2906    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-glc} } \\
     2907    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-glc} }
     2908\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-2 for glibc memory allocator}
     2909\label{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-glc}
     2910\end{figure}
     2911
     2912%mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-hrd.eps
     2913\begin{figure}
     2914\centering
     2915    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-hrd} } \\
     2916    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-hrd} }
     2917\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-2 for hoard memory allocator}
     2918\label{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-hrd}
     2919\end{figure}
     2920
     2921%mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-je.eps
     2922\begin{figure}
     2923\centering
     2924    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-je} } \\
     2925    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-je} }
     2926\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-2 for je memory allocator}
     2927\label{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-je}
     2928\end{figure}
     2929
     2930%mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-pt3.eps
     2931\begin{figure}
     2932\centering
     2933    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-pt3} } \\
     2934    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-pt3} }
     2935\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-2 for pt3 memory allocator}
     2936\label{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-pt3}
     2937\end{figure}
     2938
     2939%mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-rp.eps
     2940\begin{figure}
     2941\centering
     2942    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-rp} } \\
     2943        %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-rp} }
     2944\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-2 for rp memory allocator}
     2945\label{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-rp}
     2946\end{figure}
     2947
     2948%mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-tbb.eps
     2949\begin{figure}
     2950\centering
     2951    %\subfloat[Algol]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/algol-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-tbb} } \\
     2952    %\subfloat[Nasus]{ \includegraphics[width=0.9\textwidth]{evaluations/nasus-perf-eps/mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-tbb} }
     2953\caption{Memory benchmark results with Configuration-2 for tbb memory allocator}
     2954\label{fig:mem-4-prod-4-cons-100-tbb}
    20652955\end{figure}
    20662956
     
    20682958\section{Conclusion}
    20692959
    2070 The goal of this work is to build a full-featured, low-latency (or high bandwidth) memory allocator for both KT and UT multi-threading systems that is competitive with the best current memory allocators while extending the feature set of existing and new allocator routines.
    2071 The new llheap allocator achieves all of these goals, while maintaining and managing sticky allocation information \emph{without a performance loss}.
    2072 Hence, it is possible to use @realloc@ frequently as a safe operation, rather than just occasionally or not at all.
    2073 Furthermore, the ability to query sticky properties and other information allows programmers to write safer programs, as it is possible to dynamically match allocation styles from unknown library routines that return allocations.
    2074 
    2075 Extending the C allocation API with @resize@, advanced @realloc@, @aalloc@, @amemalign@, @cmemalign@ and other alignment variations means programmers do not have to generate these allocation operations themselves.
    2076 The ability of the type systems in modern languages, \eg \CFA, to condense the allocation API to one routine with completely orthogonal allocation properties shows how far the allocation API can be advanced.
    2077 The result is increased safety and a cognitive reduction in performing dynamic allocation.
    2078 All of these extensions should eliminate common reasons for C programmers to roll their own memory allocator and/or allocation function, which is a huge safety advantage.
    2079 
    2080 The ability to compile llheap with static/dynamic linking and optional statistics/debugging provides programmers with multiple mechanisms to balance performance and safety.
    2081 These allocator versions are easy to use because they can be linked to an application without recompilation.
     2960% \noindent
     2961% ====================
     2962%
     2963% Writing Points:
     2964% \begin{itemize}
     2965% \item
     2966% Summarize u-benchmark suite.
     2967% \item
     2968% Summarize @uHeapLmmm@.
     2969% \item
     2970% Make recommendations on memory allocator design.
     2971% \end{itemize}
     2972%
     2973% \noindent
     2974% ====================
     2975
     2976The goal of this work was to build a low-latency (or high bandwidth) memory allocator for both KT and UT multi-threading systems that is competitive with the best current memory allocators while extending the feature set of existing and new allocator routines.
     2977The new llheap memory-allocator achieves all of these goals, while maintaining and managing sticky allocation information without a performance loss.
     2978Hence, it becomes possible to use @realloc@ frequently as a safe operation, rather than just occasionally.
     2979Furthermore, the ability to query sticky properties and information allows programmers to write safer programs, as it is possible to dynamically match allocation styles from unknown library routines that return allocations.
     2980
     2981Extending the C allocation API with @resize@, advanced @realloc@, @aalloc@, @amemalign@, and @cmemalign@ means programmers do not have to do these useful allocation operations themselves.
     2982The ability to use \CFA's advanced type-system (and possibly \CC's too) to have one allocation routine with completely orthogonal sticky properties shows how far the allocation API can be pushed, which increases safety and greatly simplifies programmer's use of dynamic allocation.
     2983
    20822984Providing comprehensive statistics for all allocation operations is invaluable in understanding and debugging a program's dynamic behaviour.
    20832985No other memory allocator provides such comprehensive statistics gathering.
    2084 This capability was used extensively during the development of llheap to verify its behaviour, and to verify the benchmarks developed for the paper.
    2085 As well, the debugging mode, where allocations are checked along with internal pre/post-conditions and invariants, is extremely useful especially for students ($\approx$1,000 students have tested the \uC version of llheap).
    2086 While not as powerful as the @valgrind@ interpreter, lheap's debugging mode can detect a large number of allocation mistakes.
    2087 The contention-free statistics gathering and debugging have a low enough cost to be used in production code.
    2088 Finally, no other memory allocator addresses the needs of user-level threading, which are now available in many modern languages.
    2089 
    2090 Creating a benchmark test-suite for comparing allocators, rather than relying on a suite of arbitrary programs, has been an interesting challenge.
    2091 The purpose of these performance tests is not to pick winners and losers among the allocators, because each allocator optimizes a particular set of allocation patterns: there is no optimal memory-allocator.
    2092 The goal is to demonstrate that llheap's performance, both in time and space, across some interesting allocation patterns, is comparable to the best allocators in use today.
    2093 Admittedly, there are pathological cases where llheap might use significant amounts of memory because it never coalesces or returns storage to the OS.
    2094 These pathological cases do not correlate to long running applications, where llheap can perform very well.
    2095 In the small set of tested benchmarks, no heap blowup was observed, while some tests caused time blowups in other allocators.
    2096 Therefore, llheap is a viable drop-in replacement for many applications and its ancillary features make it safer and more informative.
    2097 
    2098 
    2099 \subsection{Recommendations}
    2100 
    2101 Substantial work has been put into building a new allocator and benchmarks, plus doing comprehensive performance tests among allocators.
    2102 Based on this work, we make two recommendations:
    2103 \begin{enumerate}[leftmargin=*, topsep=0pt,itemsep=0pt,parsep=0pt]
    2104 \item
    2105 Hoard is no longer maintained and did not do well (even broke) in some performance experiments.
    2106 We recommend to those doing memory allocation research not to use it.
    2107 \item
    2108 glibc did not perform as well as other allocators.
    2109 Given it is the default memory allocator for many academic and industry applications, this seems unfortunate and skews performance resulting so developers may draw incorrect conclusions.
    2110 As such, we recommend the adoption of a newer memory allocator for glibc.
    2111 We offer llheap for the reasons given above, but most importantly, its small code base.
    2112 glibc maintainers come and go.
    2113 Therefore, it is crucial for a new maintainer to on-board quickly and have a thorough understanding of the code base within a month.
    2114 The llheap code base is small and can be learned quickly because of its simple design, making it an ideal choice as a substitute allocator.
    2115 \end{enumerate}
     2986This capability was used extensively during the development of llheap to verify its behaviour.
     2987As well, providing a debugging mode where allocations are checked, along with internal pre/post conditions and invariants, is extremely useful, especially for students.
     2988While not as powerful as the @valgrind@ interpreter, a large number of allocation mistakes are detected.
     2989Finally, contention-free statistics gathering and debugging have a low enough cost to be used in production code.
     2990
     2991The ability to compile llheap with static/dynamic linking and optional statistics/debugging provides programers with multiple mechanisms to balance performance and safety.
     2992These allocator versions are easy to use because they can be linked to an application without recompilation.
     2993
     2994Starting a micro-benchmark test-suite for comparing allocators, rather than relying on a suite of arbitrary programs, has been an interesting challenge.
     2995The current micro-benchmarks allow some understanding of allocator implementation properties without actually looking at the implementation.
     2996For example, the memory micro-benchmark quickly identified how several of the allocators work at the global level.
     2997It was not possible to show how the micro-benchmarks adjustment knobs were used to tune to an interesting test point.
     2998Many graphs were created and discarded until a few were selected for the work.
     2999
     3000
     3001\subsection{Future Work}
     3002
     3003A careful walk-though of the allocator fastpath should yield additional optimizations for a slight performance gain.
     3004In particular, analysing the implementation of rpmalloc, which is often the fastest allocator,
     3005
     3006The micro-benchmark project requires more testing and analysis.
     3007Additional allocation patterns are needed to extract meaningful information about allocators, and within allocation patterns, what are the most useful tuning knobs.
     3008Also, identifying ways to visualize the results of the micro-benchmarks is a work in progress.
     3009
     3010After llheap is made available on GitHub, interacting with its users to locate problems and improvements will make llbench a more robust memory allocator.
     3011As well, feedback from the \uC and \CFA projects, which have adopted llheap for their memory allocator, will provide additional information.
     3012
    21163013
    21173014
     
    21193016
    21203017This research is funded by the NSERC/Waterloo-Huawei (\url{http://www.huawei.com}) Joint Innovation Lab. %, and Peter Buhr is partially funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
    2121 % Special thanks to Trevor Brown for many helpful discussions.
    2122 
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