Virtual Memory Primitives for User Programs
Report ID: TR-276-90Author: Li, Kai / Appel, Andrew W.
Date: 1990-07-00
Pages: 13
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Abstract:
Memory Management Units (MMUs) are traditionally used by operating systems to implement disk-paged virtual memory. Some operating systems allow user programs to specify the protection level (inaccessible, read-only, read-write) of pages, and allow user programs to handle protection violations, but these mechanisms are not always robust, efficient, or well-matched to the needs of applications. We survey several user-level algorithms that make use of page-protection techniques, and analyze their common characteristics, in an attempt to answer the question, "What virtual-memory primitives should the operating system provide to user processes, and how do today's operating systems provide them?".
- This technical report has been published as
- Virtual memory primitives for user programs. Andrew W. Appel and Kai Li, Proc. Fourth Int'l Conference on Architectural Support for Prog. Languages and Operating Systems, (ACM SIGPLAN Notices 25(4)) pp.96-107, April 1991.