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Improving on Linear Scan Register Allocation

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Abstract

Register allocation is a major step for all compilers. Various register allocation algorithms have been developed over the decades. This work describes a new class of rapid register allocation algorithms and presents experimental data on their behavior. Our research encourages the avoidance of graphing and graph-coloring based on the fact that precise graph-coloring is nondeterministic polynomial time-complete (NP-complete), which is not suitable for real-time tasks. In addition, practical graph-coloring algorithms tend to use polynomial-time heuristics. In dynamic compilation environments, their super linear complexity makes them unsuitable for register allocation and code generation. Existing tools for code generation and register allocation do not completely fulfill the require- ments of fast compilation. Existing approaches either do not allow for the optimization of register allocation to be achieved compre- hensively with a sufficient degree of performance or they require an unjustifiable amount of time and/or resources. Therefore, we pro- pose a new class of register allocation and code generation algorithms that can be performed in linear time. These algorithms are based on the mathematical foundations of abstract interpretation and the computation of the level of abstraction. They have been implemen- ted in a specialized library for just-in-time compilation. The specialization of this library involves the execution of common intermedi- ate language (CIL) and low level virtual machine (LLVM) with a focus on embedded systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Shahrzad Kananizadeh

  2. École Normale Supérieure/French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA), Paris, France

    Kirill Kononenko

Authors
  1. Shahrzad Kananizadeh
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  2. Kirill Kononenko
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Correspondence to Kirill Kononenko.

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Recommended by Associate Editor James Whidborne

Shahrzad Kananizadeh received the B. Sc. degree in cyber security from University of Tubingen, Germany. She is currently a researcher at Saarland University, Germany and works in Robert Bosch, Germany.

Her research interests include programming languages, compilers and program analysis. Her areas of expertise include computer engineering, communication engineering and telecommunications.

Kirill Kononenko is a mathematician who is interested in the theoretical and mathematical foundations of computer science. He is also interested in linguistics and foreign languages. He developed the libjit-linear-scan library for dynamic compilation. He is a member of ACM and IEEE.

His research interests include theoretical physics, stochastic processes and mathematical logic.

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Kananizadeh, S., Kononenko, K. Improving on Linear Scan Register Allocation. Int. J. Autom. Comput. 15, 228–238 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-017-1100-0

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