Patent ID: 6789156
Filing Date: 2004-09-07
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
In a computer system that includes a hardware memory and at least one context, which has a virtual memory that is divided into a plurality of virtual memory units that are mappable to corresponding hardware memory units, a method comprising the following steps:selecting candidate memory units from among the virtual memory units; identifying virtual memory units that have contents identical to those of the candidate memory units; and mapping those virtual memory units identified as having identical contents to a single instance of a corresponding one of the hardware memory units in which: the step of identifying virtual memory units that have identical contents includes the following sub-steps: calculating a hash value by applying a hash function to the contents of a current one of the candidate memory units; searching a data structure to determine the presence of a previous data structure entry corresponding to the calculated hash value; if a previous entry is not present in the data structure, inserting into the data structure a new entry corresponding to the current candidate memory unit; and if a previous entry is present in the data structure, comparing the entire contents of the current candidate memory unit with the contents of the single instance indicated by the previous entry.