Efficient burst sort based on network-attached memory

Abstract

A system, by a processing entity (PE), determines records stored in a memory shared by other processing entities. A respective record comprises a key and a corresponding index indicating a physical location in the shared memory. The PE stores, in a DRAM partition, burst tree data obtained by performing a burst sort on a portion of the records. The PE moves data stored in the DRAM partition to a partition of the shared memory in response to a size of the stored data exceeding a predetermined threshold. The PE obtains sorted keys and corresponding indices for the records by sorting the burst tree data stored in shared memory partitions. The PE facilitates a sorted retrieval of the records in the shared memory while leaving the records in the respective physical location in the shared memory by writing the sorted keys and indices to the shared memory.