Methods and apparatus for reusing addresses in a computer

A computer system, comprising:

• a memory;
• a translation lookaside buffer having entries that store address mappings for address translation;
• and
• a mapping circuit, coupled to the memory and the translation lookaside buffer, that performs the following operations:
• a select operation that selects an address range from a set of address ranges in
• response to a request to allocate a portion of the memory of the computer, and to
• generate an address mapping which maps that address range to the portion of the
• memory,
• an access operation that accesses at least one but less than all of the entries of the translation lookaside buffer in response to the request, and
• a deallocate operation that deallocates the portion of the memory, wherein the mapping circuit successively repeats the select, access and deallocate operations such that, when a repeated select operation selects a previously selected address range, previous successive access operations ensure that any address mapping, which maps that previously selected address range and which resides in an entry of the translation lookaside buffer, is unavailable for a subsequent address translation.

A computer program product that includes a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for reusing addresses in a computer, which has a memory and a translation lookaside buffer having entries for storing address mappings for address translation, such that the instructions, when processed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of:

• selecting an address range from a set of address ranges in response to a request to allocate a portion of the memory of the computer, and to generate an address mapping which maps that address range to the portion of the memory;
• accessing at least one but less than all of the entries of the translation lookaside buffer in response to the request;
• deallocating the portion of the memory;
• and
• successively repeating the steps of selecting, accessing and deallocating such that, when a repeated step of selecting selects a previously selected address range, previous successive steps of accessing ensure that any address mapping, which maps that previously selected address range and which resides in an entry of the translation lookaside buffer, is unavailable for a subsequent address translation.