Caches versus object allocation

Abstract

Dynamic object allocation usually stresses the randomness of data memory usage; the variables of a dynamic cache working set are to some degree distributed stochastically in the virtual or physical address space. This interferes with cache architectures, since, currently, most of them are highly sensitive to access patterns. In the above mentioned stochastically distributed case, the true capacity is far below the cache size and largely differs from processor to processor. As a consequence, object allocation schemes may substantially influence cache/TLB hit rates and thus overall program performance. After presenting basic cache architectures in short, we sketch an analytical model for evaluating their true capacities. Some industrial processors are evaluated way and potential implications for memory management techniques are discussed.