Comment on the working set model for program behavior
In the paper “The Working Set Model for Program Behavior” by Peter Denning [Comm. ACM 11, 5 (May 1968), 323-333], an algorithm is described for the management of a paged memory under demand paging. In the process of analyzing this model, the author presents what appears to be an incorrect expression for &PHgr;(&tgr;), the real-time rate at which page faults occur in the system [eq. (13)]. Under the assumptions made in the article it appears that the best one can do in this area is to place an upper and lower bound on &PHgr;(&tgr;). These bounds are given below.