Patent ID: 8918616

Claim:
A method performed by a computing device having a processor and a memory, the method comprising: with the processor, detecting one or more requests for memory allocation from a process executed by the processor; in response to a detected request for memory allocation, allocating a portion of the memory to the process, the allocated portion of the memory including a total number of bit locations; recording and storing an instance of a call stack associated with the detected request for memory allocation; and writing repeating instances of a bit pattern into the total number of bit locations; executing the process with the allocated portion of the memory; determining a number of bit locations still containing the bit pattern; and analyzing usage of the allocated portion of the memory based on the determined number of bit locations still containing the bit pattern and the associated recorded instance of the call stack, wherein analyzing usage of the allocated portion of the memory includes determining an amount of unused memory space in the allocated portion of the memory based on the determined number of bit locations still containing the bit pattern.