A Heuristic Algorithm for optimizing Page Selection Instructions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a heuristic algorithm to optimize page selection instructions in microcontrollers, significantly reducing code size and improving memory efficiency in 8-bit MCUs.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel heuristic algorithm for function placement that minimizes page switching overhead, enhancing code compactness in microcontroller memory management.

Findings

Achieved 13.2% reduction in code size

Improved page selection instruction efficiency

Demonstrated effectiveness through experimental results

Abstract

Page switching is a technique that increases the memory in microcontrollers without extending the address buses. This technique is widely used in the design of 8-bit MCUs. In this paper, we present an algorithm to reduce the overhead of page switching. To pursue small code size, we place the emphasis on the allocation of functions into suitable pages with a heuristic algorithm, thereby the cost-effective placement of page selection instructions. Our experimental results showed the optimization achieved a reduction in code size of 13.2 percent.