PIM-malloc: A Fast and Scalable Dynamic Memory Allocator for Processing-In-Memory (PIM) Architectures

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Dongjae Lee, Bongjoon Hyun, Youngjin Kwon, Minsoo Rhu

Published: 2025, Last Modified: 02 Mar 2026CoRR 2025EveryoneRevisionsBibTeXCC BY-SA 4.0
Abstract: The ability to dynamically allocate memory is fundamental in modern programming languages. However, this feature is not adequately supported in current general-purpose PIM devices. To identify key design principles that PIM must consider, we conduct a design space exploration of PIM memory allocators, examining various strategies for metadata placement and management of the allocator. Based on this exploration, we introduce PIM-malloc, a fast and scalable memory allocator for general-purpose PIM that operates on real PIM hardware, achieving a x66 improvement in memory allocation performance. This design is further enhanced with a lightweight, per-PIM core hardware cache, specifically designed for dynamic memory allocation, achieving an additional 31% performance improvement. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of PIM-malloc by developing several representative PIM workloads, demonstrating its effectiveness in enhancing programmability.