International Journal of Database Management Systems ( IJDMS ) Vol.5, No.1, February 2013 EFFICIENT EXTERNAL SORTING ON FLASH MEMORY EMBEDDED DEVICES Tyler Cossentine and Ramon Lawrence Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia Okanagan Kelowna, BC, Canada
[email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT Many embedded system applications involve storing and querying large datasets. Existing research in this area has focused on adapting and applying conventional database algorithms to embedded devices. Algorithms designed for processing queries on embedded devices must be able to execute given the small amount of available memory and energy constraints. Most embedded devices use flash memory to store large amounts of data. Flash memory has unique performance characteristics that can be exploited to improve algorithm performance. In this paper, we describe the Flash MinSort external sorting algorithm that uses an index, generated at runtime, to take advantage of fast random reads in flash memory. This algorithm adapts to the amount of memory available and performs best in applications where sort keys are clustered. Experimental results show that Flash MinSort is two to ten times faster than previous approaches for small memory sizes where external merge sort is not executable. KEYWORDS sorting, sensor node, flash memory, query processing 1. INTRODUCTION Embedded systems are devices that perform a few simple functions. Most embedded systems, such as sensor networks, smart cards and certain hand-held devices, are computationally constrained. These devices typically have a low-power microprocessor, limited amount of memory, and flash-based data storage. In addition, some battery-powered devices, such as sensor networks, must be deployed for months at a time without being replaced.