The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 17, 2001
Filed:
Mar. 12, 1998
Richard F. Man, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and system of trace ranking that applies artificial life principles to determine a predictively accurate ranking for cache retention or discard of traces. In a preferred embodiment, the ranking system is based upon biological modeling of ant trails. The system can enable a trace ranking policy where valuable traces can be identified to be kept in the cache as much as possible, while less valuable traces can be marked to discard. The system is further dynamic over time, whereby ranking emphasis changes in accordance with the dynamic behavior of the program. According to a preferred embodiment of the inventive trace ranking system, and analogous to the ant trail model, each trace contains counting code so that each time it is executed it increments a ranking counter by one. At predetermined intervals a dissipation factor is applied uniformly to reduce the value of all counters. By tuning the period between successive dissipation adjustments, and by tuning to a function the amount that the counters are reduced at selected dissipation operations, ranking becomes tunably predictive of the dynamic behavior of the program, analogous to the way in which the strength of a pheromone trail is predictive of the route followed by a foraging ant.