On-line Measurement of Paging Behavior by the Multivalued MIN Algorithm
L. A. Belady, F. P. Palermo · IBM Journal of Research and Development · 1974
An algorithm is presented that extracts the sequence of minimum memory capacities (MMCs) from the sequence of page references generated by a program as it is executed in a demand paging environment. The new algorithm combines the advantages of existing approaches in that the MMC's are produced in a single pass, as is the output of the MIN algorithm for a single memory size, and the MMC sequence is identical to the optimum stack distances provided by the OPT algorithm, which requires two passes. A hardware implementation is outlined as an extension to existing page management mechanisms. The resulting device could be used to produce continuously the MMC information, while the (paging) machine executes the program at essentially full speed. The paper also discusses the possible impact of the algorithm on the study of program behavior and on the development of space sharing (paging) algorithms. Finally, a proof is provided that the algorithm in fact produces an output identical to that of OPT.