Patent ID: 7721064

Claim:
A computer controlled method within a computing environment, said computing environment comprising a memory management unit configured to map a virtual memory page of a process-context to a physical memory page, wherein access to said physical memory page by said process-context is controlled by an access permission logic responsive to a plurality of memory access modes, said access permission logic configured to post an exception upon detection of a prohibited access attempt of said physical memory page by said process-context, said plurality of memory access modes including a read access mode and a write access mode, said computing environment including a plurality of allocated physical memory pages, and a plurality of unallocated physical memory pages; said method comprising: receiving a physical memory allocation request; determining whether satisfying said physical memory allocation request would reduce the number of said plurality of unallocated physical memory pages below a threshold; remapping a plurality of process-contexts responsive to determining, wherein remapping further comprises: identifying a first process-context containing a first process-context mapping to a first allocated physical memory page and a second process-context containing a second process-context mapping to a second allocated physical memory page from said plurality of process-contexts, said first allocated physical memory page and said second allocated physical memory page having substantially similar content; altering said second process-context mapping to map to said first allocated physical memory page; and specifying one or more of said plurality of memory access modes on said first allocated physical memory page with respect to at least one of said first process-context or said second process-context; adding said second allocated physical memory page to said plurality of unallocated physical memory pages; and processing said physical memory allocation request.