Deepin Linux

Mar 14, 2026 · Fundamentals

Mastering Linux CMA: How the Contiguous Memory Allocator Solves Fragmentation

This article explains the challenges of allocating large contiguous physical memory in Linux, introduces the Contiguous Memory Allocator (CMA) as a solution, and provides in‑depth coverage of its design, reservation, migration, data structures, initialization, configuration, usage in drivers, and debugging techniques.