Kernel and application cooperative memory management

A method for an application to cooperate with an operating system, wherein the operating system provides the application a virtual memory, and wherein the operating system maps at least a portion of the virtual memory to a physical memory, said method comprising:

• receiving, from the operating system, a feedback signal that indicates an overall utilization of the physical memory by all processes using the physical memory;
• determining, by the application, a cost of freeing at least some of the virtual memory based on the utilization of the physical memory, wherein determining the cost of freeing at least some of the virtual memory, comprising:
• estimating an amount of time to swap one or more pages of the virtual memory between the physical memory and a storage device, and
• releasing, by the application, at least some of the virtual memory based on the cost of freeing and the feedback signal.

A method for an application to cooperate with an operating system, wherein the operating system provides the application a virtual memory, and wherein the operating system maps at least a portion of the virtual memory to a physical memory, said method comprising:

• receiving, from the operating system, a feedback signal that indicates an overall utilization of the physical memory by all processes using the physical memory;
• determining, by the application, a cost of freeing at least some of the virtual memory based on the overall utilization of the physical memory, wherein determining the cost of freeing at least some of the virtual memory, comprises:
• estimating an amount of time to discard data in one or more pages of the virtual memory and recalculate the data;
• and
• releasing, by the application, at least some of the virtual memory based on the cost of freeing and the feedback signal.