A novel processor architecture with exact tag-free pointers

Abstract

Along with the success of Java, garbage collection advances to embedded and real-time systems. In this paper a novel RISC processor architecture that lays the foundation for efficient real-time garbage collection in hardware and guarantees pointer integrity at the machine-code level is proposed. This article summarizes the most commonly used garbage collection methods and points out problems of contemporary software-based solutions to motivate architectural support for garbage collection.