Dynamic Memory Allocation: Basic Concepts

References

• Slides adapted from CMU

Dynamic Memory Allocation

• Programmers use dynamic memory allocators (such as malloc) to acquire virtual memory (VM) at run time.
  • For data structures where the size is only known at runtime
• Dynamic memory allocators manage an area of process VM known as the heap.

Dynamic Memory Allocation

• Allocator maintains the heap as a collection of variable sized blocks, which are either allocated or free.

• Types of allocators
  • Explicit allocator: application allocates and frees space (for example, malloc and free in C)
  • Implicit allocator: application allocates, but does not free space (for example, new and garbage collection in Java)

• This lecture: explicit memory allocation

The malloc Package

• void *malloc(size_t size)
  • Success: returns a pointer to a memory block of at least size bytes aligned to a 16-byte boundary (on x86-64); if size == 0, returns NULL
  • Unsuccessful: returns NULL and sets errno to ENOMEM
• void free(void *p)
  • Returns the block pointed at by p to pool of available memory
  • p must come from a previous call to malloc, calloc, or realloc
• Other functions:
  • calloc: version of malloc that initializes allocated block to zero
  • realloc: changes the size of a previously allocated block
  • sbrk: used internally by allocators to grow or shrink the heap

malloc Example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

void foo(long n) {
    long i, *p;

    /* Allocate a block of n longs */
    p = (long *) malloc(n * sizeof(long));
    if (p == NULL) {
        perror("malloc");
        exit(0);
    }

    /* Initialize allocated block */
    for (i=0; i<n; i++)
        p[i] = i;
    /* Do something with p */
    ...

    /* Return allocated block to the heap */
    free(p);
}

Sample Implementation

• Code (location: CS:APP3e Code Examples
  • File: mm.c
  • Manges fixed size heap
  • Functions mm_malloc and mm_free
• Features
  • Based on words of 8 bytes each
  • Pointers returned by malloc are double-word aligned
  • Compile and run tests with command interpreter

Constraints

• Applications
  • Can issue arbitrary sequence of malloc and free requests
  • free request must be to a malloc’d block
• Explicit Allocators
  • Cannot control number or size of allocated blocks
  • Must respond immediately to malloc requests
  • Must allocate blocks from free memory
  • Must align blocks to satisfy alignment requirements
  • Can manipulate and modify only free memory
  • Cannot move the allocated blocks once they are malloc’d

Performance Goal: Throughput

• Given some sequence of malloc and free requests:

  \[R_{0}, R_{1}, \ldots, R_{k}, \ldots, R_{n-1}\]

• Goals: maximize throughput and peak memory utilization
  • these goals are often conflicting
• Throughput:
  • Number of completed requests per unit time
  • Example:
    • 5,000 malloc calls and 5,000 free calls in 10 seconds
    • Throughput is 1,000 operations per second

Performance Goal: Minimize Overhead

• Given some sequence of malloc and free requests:

  \[R_{0}, R_{1}, \ldots, R_{k}, \ldots, R_{n-1}\]

• Definition: aggregate payload \(P_{k}\)
  • malloc(p) results in a block with a payload of p bytes
  • After request \(R_{k}\) has completed, the aggregate payload \(P_{k}\) is the sum of currently allocated payloads
• Definition: current heap size \(H_{k}\)
  • Assume \(H_{k}\) is montonically nondecreasing, that is, the heap only grows when the allocator uses sbrk
• Definition: Overhead after \(k+1\) requests
  • Fraction of heap space not used for program data
  • \(O_{k} = H_{k} / (max_{i \leq k} P_{i}) - 1\)

malloc Heap Visualization Example

Fragmentation

• Fragmentation causes poor memory utilization

• Internal fragmentation: For a given block, internal framentation occurs if payload is smaller than block size

  • Caused by
    • overhead of maintaining heap data structures
    • padding for alignment purposes
    • explicit policy decisions (for example, to return a big block to satisfy a small request)
  • Depends only on the pattern of previous requests

• External fragmentation: occurs when there is enough aggregate heap memory, but no single free block is large enough

  • Amount of external fragmentation depends on the pattern of future requests (difficult to measure)

Implementation Issues

• How do we know how much memory to free given only a pointer?

• How do we keep track of the free blocks?

• What do we do with the extra space when allocating a structure that is smaller than the free block it is place?

• How do we pick a block to use for allocation – many might fit?

• How do we reuse a block that has been freed?

Knowing How Much to Free

• Standard method

  • Keep the length (in bytes) of a block in the word preceding the block, including the header

  • Requires an extra word for every allocated block

Keeping Track of Free Blocks

• Method 1: Implicit list using length; links all blocks
  • Need to tag each block as allocated/free
• Method 2: Explicit list among the free blocks using pointers
  • Need space for pointers
• Method 3: Segregated free list
  • Different free lists for different size classes
• Method 4: Blocks sorted by size
  • Can use a balanced tree with pointers within each free block, and the length used as a key

Method 1: Implicit Free List

• For each block we need both size and allocation status
  • Could store this information in two words (wasteful)
• Standard trick
  • When blocks are aligned, some low-order address bits are always zero
  • Instead of storing the always zero bit, use it as an allocated/free flag
  • When reading the size word, the bit must be masked out
  

Detailed Implicit Free List Example

• Allocated blocks: shaded
• Free blocks: unshaded
• Headers: labeled with “size in words/allocated bit”
  • Headers are at non-aligned positions
  • Payloads are aligned

Implicit List: Data Structures

• Block declaration

  typedef unint64_t word_t;
  
  typedef struct block {
      word_t header;
      unsigned char payload[0]; // zero length array
  } block_t;

• Getting payload from block pointer

  return (void *) (block->payload);

• Getting header from payload

  return (void *) ((unsigned char *) bp - offsetof(block_t, payload));

Implicit List: Header access

• Getting allocated bit from header

  return header & 0x1;

• Getting size from header

  return header & ~0xfL;

• Initializing header

  block->header = size | alloc;

Implicit List: Traversing the List

• Find next block

  static block_t *find_next(block_t *block) {
      return (block_t *) ((unsigned char *) block 
                          + get_size(block));
  }

Implicit List: Finding a Free Block

• Search list from beginning and choose first free block that fits (including space for the header)

static block_t *find_fit(size_t asize) {
    block_t *block;
    for (block = heap_start; block != heap_end;
         block = find_next(block))
    {
        if (!(get_alloc(block)) && (asize <= get_size(block)))
            return block;
    }
    return NULL; // No fit found
}

Implicit List: Finding a Free Block

• First fit:
  • Search list from the beginning and choose the first free block that fits
  • Can take linear time in total number of blocks (allocated and free)
  • In practice it can cause “splinters” at the beginning of the list
• Next fit:
  • Like first fit, but search the list starting where the previous search finished
  • Should often be faster than first fit since it avoids re-scanning unhelpful blocks
  • Some research suggests that fragmentation is worse
• Best fit:
  • Search the list and choose the best free block: fits with the fewest bytes left over
  • Keeps fragments small; usually improves memory utilization
  • Will typically run slower than first fit
  • Still a greedy algorithm; no guarantee of optimality

Implicit List: Allocating in Free Block

• Allocating in a free block: splitting
  • Since allocated space might be smaller than free space, we might want to split the block

Implicit List: Splitting Free Block

// Warning: This code is incomplete

static void split_block(block_t *block, size_t asize) {
    size_t block_size = get_size(block);

    if ((block_size - asize) >= min_block_size) {
        write_header(block, asize, true);
        block_t *block_next = find_next(block);
        write_header(block_next, block_size - asize, false);
    }
}

Implicit List: Freeing a Block

• Simplest implementation:
  • Need to clear the “allocated” flag
  • But, can lead to “false fragmentation”

Implicit List: Coalescing

• Join (coalesce) with next/previous blocks, if they are free

• Coalesce with next block
  • Simple because of forward search
• How do we coalesce with previous block?
  • How do we know where it starts?
  • How can we determine whether it is allocated?

Implicit List: Bidirectional Coalescing

• Boundary tags
  • Replicate size/allocated word at “bottom” (end) of free blocks
  • Allows us to traverse the “list” backwards, but requires extra space
  • Important and general technique

Implementation with Footers

• Locating footer of current block

  const size_t dsize = 2 * sizeof(word_t);
  
  static word_t *header_to_footer(block_t *block) {
      size_t asize = get_size(block);
      return (word_t *) (block->payload + asize - dsize);
  }

• Locating footer of previous block

  static word_t *find_prev_footer(block_t *block) {
      return &(block->header) - 1);
  }

Splitting Free Block: Full Version

static void split_block(block_t *block, size_t asize) {
    size_t block_size = get_size(block);

    if ((block_size - asize) >= min_block_size) {
        write_header(block, asize, true);
        write_footer(block, asize, true);
        block_t *block_next = find_next(block);
        write_header(block_next, block_size - asize, false);
        write_footer(block_next, block_size - asize, false);
    }
}

Constant Time Coalescing (Case 1)

Constant Time Coalescing (Case 2)

Constant Time Coalescing (Case 3)

Constant Time Coalescing (Case 4)

Heap Structure

• Dummy footer before first header
  • Marked as allocated
  • Prevents accidental coalescing when freeing first block
• Dummy header after last footer
  • Prevents accidental coalescing when freeing final block

Top-Level Malloc Code

const size_t dsize = 2*sizeof(word_t);

void *mm_malloc(size_t size)
{
    size_t asize = round_up(size + dsize, dsize);

    block_t *block = find_fit(asize);

    if (block == NULL)
        return NULL;

    size_t block_size = get_size(block);
    write_header(block, block_size, true);
    write_footer(block, block_size, true);

    split_block(block, asize);

    return header_to_payload(block);
}

Top-Level Free Code

void mm_free(void *bp)
{
    block_t *block = payload_to_header(bp);
    size_t size = get_size(block);

    write_header(block, size, false);
    write_footer(block, size, false);

    coalesce_block(block);
}

Disadvantages of Boundary Tags

• Internal fragmentation

• Can it be optimized?
  • Which blocks need the footer tag?
  • What does that mean?

No Boundary Tag for Allocated Blocks

• Boundary tag needed only for free blocks

• When sizes are multiples of 16, have 4 spare bits

• Header: Use 2 bits (address bits always zero due to alignment):

  (prev_block) << 1 | (curr_block)

Summary of Key Allocator Policies

• Placement policy:
  • First-fit, next-fit, best-fit, etc.
  • Trades off lower throughput for less fragmentation
  • Interesting observation: segregated free lists (next lecture) approximate a best fit placement policy without having to search entire free list
• Splitting policy:
  • When do we go ahead and split free blocks?
  • How much internal fragmentation are we willing to tolerate?
• Coalescing policy:
  • Immediate coalescing: coalesce each time free is called
  • Deferred coalescing: try to improve performance of free by deferring coalescing until needed

Implicit Lists: Summary

• Implementation: very simple

• Allocate cost: linear time worst case

• Free cost: constant time worst case (even with coalescing)

• Memory overhead: depends on placement policy

• Not used in practice for malloc/free because of linear time allocation

• The concepts of splitting and boundary tag coalescing are general to all allocators