计算机专业英语 学习笔记 3

Memory systems>

Memory system desiderata :

(1)   size: infinitely large, noconstraints on program or data set size.

(2)   Speed: infinitely fast, latencyequal to the fastest memory technology available.

(3)   Cost: the per bit cost shouldapproach the lowest-cost technology available. Clearly these specifications cannotall be achieved as they are mutually exclusive. However, with the semiconductorand magnetic memory technology of today, these specifications are closelyapproximated.

Hierarchical memory:

In this section it is shown how designersimplement a practical memory that approaches the performance of an ideal memoryat reasonable cost. This memory system has a hierarchy of levels: the memorycloset to the processor is fast and relatively small, but has a high cost perbit. This level is called the cache. The real memory, sometimes known as mainmemory, is slower, larger, and has a lower cost per bit than the cache. Thelowest level in the hierarchy is usually a magnetic disk that has the longestlatency and the lowest bandwidth, however, it can be very large and has a verylow cost per bit. This hierarchy is illustrated in fig. 1-3.

Note that fig. 1-3 does not include theprocessor register file in the memory hierarchy. The register file is aprogram-managed cache and is generally not included in the memory system. Also,there can be more than one cache in the hierarchy.

Paged virtual memory:

Paged virtual memory provides the solutionto the first desideratum of a very large memory’s being available to theprocessor. Because of the importance of this desideratum, the relationshipbetween virtual and real memory is discussed first. With virtual memory, theprocessor addresses the disk, the large,