Power-aware network swapping for wireless palmtop PCs

Abstract

Virtual memory is considered to be an unlimited resource in desktop or notebook computers with high storage capabilities. However, in wireless mobile devices, like palmtops and personal digital assistants (PDAs), storage memory is limited or absent due to weight, size, and power constraints, so that swapping over remote memory devices can be considered as a viable alternative. However, power-hungry wireless network interface cards (WNICs) may limit the battery lifetime and application performance if not efficiently exploited. In this paper, we study performance and energy of network swapping in comparison with swapping on local microdrives and flash memories. We report the results of extensive experiments conducted on different WNICs and local swapping devices, using both synthetic and natural benchmarks. Our study points out that remote swapping over power-manageable WNICs can be more efficient than local swapping, especially in bursty workload conditions. Such conditions can be forced where possible by reshaping swapping requests to increase energy efficiency and performance.