Partitioning and allocation of scratch-pad memory for priority-based preemptive multi-task systems

Abstract

Scratch-pad memory has been employed as a partial or entire replacement for cache memory due to its better energy efficiency. In this paper, we propose scratch-pad memory management techniques for priority-based preemptive multi-task systems. Our techniques are applicable to a real-time environment. The three methods which we propose, i.e., spatial, temporal, and hybrid methods, bring about effective usage of the scratch-pad memory space, and achieve energy reduction in the instruction memory subsystems. We formulate each method as an integer programming problem that simultaneously determines (1) partitioning of scratch-pad memory space for the tasks, and (2) allocation of program code to scratch-pad memory space for each task. It is remarkable that periods and priorities of tasks are considered in the formulas. Additionally, we implement an RTOS-hardware cooperative support mechanism for a runtime code allocation to the scratch-pad memory space. We have made the experiments with the fully functional real-time operating system. The experimental results with four task sets have demonstrated the effectiveness of our techniques. Up to 73 % energy reduction compared to a standard method was achieved.