Memory Management Strategies

The term Memory can be defined as a collection of data in a specific format. It is used to store instructions and
process data. The memory comprises a large array or group of words or bytes, each with its own location. The
primary motive of a computer system is to execute programs. These programs, along with the information they
access, should be in the main memory during execution. The CPU fetches instructions from memory according to
the value of the program counter.
To achieve a degree of multiprogramming and proper utilization of memory, memory management is important.
Many memory management methods exist, reflecting various approaches, and the effectiveness of each algorithm
depends on the situation.

What is Main Memory:

The main memory is central to the operation of a modern computer. Main Memory is a large array of words or
bytes, ranging in size from hundreds of thousands to billions. Main memory is a repository of rapidly available
information shared by the CPU and I/O devices. Main memory is the place where programs and information are
kept when the processor is effectively utilizing them. Main memory is associated with the processor, so moving
instructions and information into and out of the processor is extremely fast. Main memory is also known as
RAM(Random Access Memory). This memory is a volatile memory.RAM lost its data when a power interruption
occurs.

What is Memory Management :

In a multiprogramming computer, the operating system resides in a part of memory and the rest is used by multiple
processes. The task of subdividing the memory among different processes is called memory management.
Memory management is a method in the operating system to manage operations between main memory and disk
during process execution. The main aim of memory management is to achieve efficient utilization of memory.

Why Memory Management is required:

 Allocate and de-allocate memory before and after process execution.

 To keep track of used memory space by processes.
 To minimize fragmentation issues.
 To proper utilization of main memory.
 To maintain data integrity while executing of process.

Logical and Physical Address Space:

 Logical Address space: An address generated by the CPU is known as a “Logical Address”. It is also known as a
Virtual address. Logical address space can be defined as the size of the process. A logical address can be
changed.
Physical Address space: An address seen by the memory unit (i.e the one loaded into the memory address
register of the memory) is commonly known as a “Physical Address”. A Physical address is also known as a Real
address. The set of all physical addresses corresponding to these logical addresses is known as Physical address
space. A physical address is computed by MMU. The run-time mapping from virtual to physical addresses is done
by a hardware device Memory Management Unit(MMU). The physical address always remains constant.

Static and Dynamic Loading:

Loading a process into the main memory is done by a loader. There are two different types of loading :
 Static loading:- loading the entire program into a fixed address. It requires more memory space.
 Dynamic loading:- The entire program and all data of a process must be in physical memory for the process to
execute. So, the size of a process is limited to the size of physical memory. To gain proper memory utilization,
dynamic loading is used. In dynamic loading, a routine is not loaded until it is called. All routines are residing on
disk in a relocatable load format. One of the advantages of dynamic loading is that unused routine is never
loaded. This loading is useful when a large amount of code is needed to handle it efficiently.

Static and Dynamic linking:

To perform a linking task a linker is used. A linker is a program that takes one or more object files generated by a
compiler and combines them into a single executable file.
 Static linking: In static linking, the linker combines all necessary program modules into a single executable
program. So there is no runtime dependency. Some operating systems support only static linking, in which
system language libraries are treated like any other object module.
 Dynamic linking: The basic concept of dynamic linking is similar to dynamic loading. In dynamic linking, “Stub”
is included for each appropriate library routine reference. A stub is a small piece of code. When the stub is
executed, it checks whether the needed routine is already in memory or not. If not available then the program
loads the routine into memory.

Swapping :

When a process is executed it must have resided in memory. Swapping is a process of swapping a process
temporarily into a secondary memory from the main memory, which is fast as compared to secondary memory. A
swapping allows more processes to be run and can be fit into memory at one time. The main part of swapping is
transferred time and the total time is directly proportional to the amount of memory swapped. Swapping is also
known as roll-out, roll in, because if a higher priority process arrives and wants service, the memory manager can
swap out the lower priority process and then load and execute the higher priority process. After finishing higher
priority work, the lower priority process swapped back in memory and continued to the execution process.

swapping in memory management

 Contiguous Memory Allocation :
The main memory should oblige both the operating system and the different client processes. Therefore, the
allocation of memory becomes an important task in the operating system. The memory is usually divided into two
partitions: one for the resident operating system and one for the user processes. We normally need several user
processes to reside in memory simultaneously. Therefore, we need to consider how to allocate available memory
to the processes that are in the input queue waiting to be brought into memory. In adjacent memory allotment,
each process is contained in a single contiguous segment of memory.

contiguous memory allocation

Paging:

Paging is a memory management scheme that eliminates the need for contiguous allocation of physical memory.
This scheme permits the physical address space of a process to be non-contiguous.
 Logical Address or Virtual Address (represented in bits): An address generated by the CPU
 Logical Address Space or Virtual Address Space (represented in words or bytes): The set of all logical
addresses generated by a program
 Physical Address (represented in bits): An address actually available on a memory unit
 Physical Address Space (represented in words or bytes): The set of all physical addresses corresponding to the
logical addresses
Example:
 If Logical Address = 31 bits, then Logical Address Space = 2 31 words = 2 G words (1 G = 230)
 If Logical Address Space = 128 M words = 2 7 * 220 words, then Logical Address = log 2 227 = 27 bits
 If Physical Address = 22 bits, then Physical Address Space = 2 22 words = 4 M words (1 M = 220)
 If Physical Address Space = 16 M words = 2 4 * 220 words, then Physical Address = log 2 224 = 24 bits
The mapping from virtual to physical address is done by the memory management unit (MMU) which is a hardware
device and this mapping is known as the paging technique.
 The Physical Address Space is conceptually divided into several fixed-size blocks, called frames.
 The Logical Address Space is also split into fixed-size blocks, called pages.
 Page Size = Frame Size
Let us consider an example:
 Physical Address = 12 bits, then Physical Address Space = 4 K words
 Logical Address = 13 bits, then Logical Address Space = 8 K words
 Page size = frame size = 1 K words (assumption)
 The address generated by the CPU is divided into
 Page number(p): Number of bits required to represent the pages in Logical Address Space or Page number
 Page offset(d): Number of bits required to represent a particular word in a page or page size of Logical
Address Space or word number of a page or page offset.
Physical Address is divided into
 Frame number(f): Number of bits required to represent the frame of Physical Address Space or Frame number
frame
 Frame offset(d): Number of bits required to represent a particular word in a frame or frame size of Physical
Address Space or word number of a frame or frame offset.
The hardware implementation of the page table can be done by using dedicated registers. But the usage of
register for the page table is satisfactory only if the page table is small. If the page table contains a large number of
entries then we can use TLB(translation Look-aside buffer), a special, small, fast look-up hardware cache.
 The TLB is an associative, high-speed memory.
 Each entry in TLB consists of two parts: a tag and a value.
 When this memory is used, then an item is compared with all tags simultaneously. If the item is found, then the
corresponding value is returned.
Main memory access time = m
If page table are kept in main memory,
Effective access time = m(for page table) + m(for particular page in page table)