Optimizing memory management using memory access heatmaps

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an enhanced system and methods for optimizing data placement in a memory hierarchy. A disclosed non-limiting computer-implemented method configures a counter block comprising access frequency counters mapped into an application memory space, and configures a counter map, where each entry in the counter map associates an application-defined memory region with the access frequency counters of the counter block. A memory controller identifies a memory access in a given application-defined memory region and compares an access address with a mask in the counter map to track the memory access. The memory controller generates a heatmap representing a frequency count of accesses to quantized memory using the access frequency counters. Generating the heatmap is performed by memory controller hardware.