Find one unbroken run.
A process cannot be split. Select a waiting request and place its entire size into contiguous free cells before its deadline expires.
Contiguous or nothing
Memory is free.
The space is not.
Every incoming process needs one uninterrupted run of cells. Size tells you what fits now. Lifetime tells you what your decision leaves behind.
63!25
Read time as space.
Processes release automatically when their lifetimes end. Grouping similar lifetimes can open useful regions; mixing them can strand unusable gaps.
Pressure arrives in waves.
Calm intervals give way to warnings and allocation storms. Your layout has to survive the demand you can see and the pressure still approaching.
Compaction always costs.
Move eligible processes together to reclaim a larger block. The operation uses a limited charge while waiting requests continue to age.
Failure is visible
Know exactly what broke.
The game distinguishes four causes: total capacity, fragmentation, an expired deadline, or a full waiting queue. Every fault can be reconstructed from the state in front of you.
- CapacityNot enough free cells exist.
- FragmentationEnough cells exist, but no gap is large enough.
- DeadlineA valid placement existed, but time ran out.
- QueueThe next request arrived with nowhere to wait.
Choose the pressure