Systems and methods for sharing memory pointers across multiple processes

A system comprising:

• a mapping module, stored in memory, that maps a block of shared memory to a plurality of processes running on a computing device;
• a determination module, stored in memory, that:
• determines, for a process within the plurality of processes, a local pointer that references a specific portion of the block of shared memory from a shared memory pointer that is shared across the plurality of processes by:
• identifying, within the shared memory pointer, a block number assigned to the block of shared memory;
• identifying, within the shared memory pointer, an offset that corresponds to the specific portion of the block of shared memory relative to the process;
• determining a base virtual address of the block of shared memory based at least in part on the block number;
• and
• converting, by the process, the shared memory pointer into the local pointer by combining the base virtual address and the offset to reference the specific portion of the block;
• identifies a size of the block of shared memory;
• compares the combination of the base virtual address and the offset to the size of the block;
• determines, based at least in part on the comparison, that the shared memory pointer no longer references the block;
• wherein the mapping module:
• resizes the block of shared memory as mapped to the process to account for an increase in the size of the block of shared memory;
• and
• updates a data structure of the process to reflect the resizing of the block to the process;
• further comprising:
• an operation module, stored in memory, that performs an operation on the specific portion of the block of shared memory based at least in part on the local pointer;
• and
• at least one physical processor configured to execute the mapping module, the determination module, and the operation module.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

• map a block of shared memory to a plurality of processes running on the computing device;
• determine, for a process within the plurality of processes, a local pointer that references a specific portion of the block of shared memory from a shared memory pointer that is shared across the plurality of processes by:
• identifying, within the shared memory pointer, a block number assigned to the block of shared memory;
• identifying, within the shared memory pointer, an offset that corresponds to the specific portion of the block of shared memory relative to the process;
• determining a base virtual address of the block of shared memory based at least in part on the block number;
• and
• converting, by the process, the shared memory pointer into the local pointer by combining the base virtual address and the offset to reference the specific portion of the block;
• identify a size of the block of shared memory;
• compare the combination of the base virtual address and the offset to the size of the block;
• determine, based at least in part on the comparison, that the shared memory pointer no longer references the block;
• in response to determining that the shared memory pointer no longer references the block, resize the block of shared memory as mapped to the process to account for an increase in the size of the block of shared memory;
• update a data structure of the process to reflect the resizing of the block to the process;
• and
• perform an operation on the specific portion of the block of shared memory based at least in part on the local pointer.