Computer Memory Organisation

Used to store information within a computer , either programs or data.

 Programs and data cannot be used directly from a disk or CD, but must first be
moved in memory
 Main memory & cache memory referred as internal memory because it is place at the
main board. Communicates directly with CPU immediately.
 Secondary & tertiary memory referred as external memory (or auxiliary memory)
because it is not located at the main board. Usually for back-up purpose.
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Types of computer storage

1.Primary memory is the computer’s main memory, which
is directly accessible by the CPU and often much faster
than secondary storage. The best examples for primary
storage devices are RAM (Random access memory) and
ROM (Read-only memory).
2. Secondary storage devices: Secondary storage is a non-
volatile medium that holds data until it is deleted or
overwritten. It is sometimes referred to as external memory
and auxiliary storage.

3. Off-line refers to non-volatile storage that can be easily

removed from the computer.
 Computer Memory Organisation
Storage devices in a computer

RAM SSD
ROM
HDD

USB Flash Memory

CD, DVD
Computer Memory Organisation
 Computer Memory Organisation

Memory Terminology

 Memory Cell – A device or an electrical circuit used to store a single bit (0 or 1).
Memory Word – A group of bits (cells) a memory that represents instructions or data.
Byte – A special term used for a group of 8 bits
Nibble – Half of Byte ( 4bit).
Capacity –A way of specifying how many bits can be stored in a particular memory device or
complete memory system.
1 Tera Byte = 240 byte
Capacity metrics unit:
1 Peta Byte = 250 byte
1Kilobyte = 210 byte
1 Exa Byte = 260 byte
1Mega = 220 byte= 1,048,576.
1 Zetta Byte = 270 byte
1Giga = 230 byte = 1,073,741,824
1 Yotta Byte = 280 byte
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Random Access Memory (RAM)

Random Access Memory (RAM) is one of

the faster types of main memory accessed
directly by the CPU.

It is the hardware in a computer device to temporarily store data, programs or program results. It is
used to read/write data in memory until the machine is working.

It is volatile, which means if a power failure occurs or the computer is turned off, the information
stored in RAM will be lost. All data stored in computer memory can be read or accessed randomly at
any time.
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There are two types of RAM:

There are two different types of RAM

(Random Access Memory)

•Static RAM
•Dynamic RAM
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DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory)

DRAM stores the binary information in the form of electric

charges applied to capacitors. The stored information on the
capacitors tends to lose over a period of time and thus the
capacitors must be periodically recharged to retain their usage.
DRAM requires refresh time. The main memory is generally
made up of DRAM chips.
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SRAM (Static Random Access Memory)

Data is stored in transistors and requires a constant power

flow. Because of the continuous power, SRAM doesn’t
need to be refreshed to remember the data being stored.
SRAM is called static as no change or action i.e. refreshing
is not needed to keep the data intact. It is used in cache
memories.
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SRAM DRAM

SRAM is faster then DRAM. DRAM slower than SRAM.

SRAM is costly than DRAM. DRAM cost is cheapest then SRAM.

SRAM is smaller in size compare to DRAM is a larger size compared to

DRAM SRAM capacity.
 Computer Memory Organisation
Memory Organization

 A memory location always has a unique identifier called the

address.

 Each memory unit is a cell which stores 1 bit of information.

 A memory word is a collection of bits to form a multi-bit unit that

carries information. A word can be defined to be 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-
bit or 64-bit.

 Each memory word has its own address.

 Addresses are sequential (consecutive)

 The number of unique words in a memory module determines

how many bits of address information is required to uniquely
specify each location uniquely.
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Memory Organization
 The address bus carries the location information or address of the
memory. A k-bit address would allow 2k locations to be accessed
and uniquely specified.

 The data bus carries the information read from or written to

2k Cases mémoire
memory. It can be n-bit width, where n is usually 8, 16, 32 or
64.

For example in the figure, the table which represents the memory the
address of each memory box is on 16 bits (0x0001 is the @1 in
hexadecimal which is equal to (0000 0000 0000 0001)2 in binary)
therefore with this address of this size we can address 216 = 65536
memory boxes.
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8 bits word
Memory Organization
Since each memory box can store 8 bits (1 byte) which is the size of
the memory word and we have 216 boxes therefore this memory can
store (216 * 8) bits = 524288 bits or 216 byte since 8 bits = 1 byte,

The number of bits stored from @ 0x0000 to @

0xFFFF is 524288

16-bit address

Memory capacity designates the volume of data that this memory can
store; it can be expressed in bits, bytes, KB, MB, etc.
 Computer Memory Organisation
Memory Organization
Physical structure of a central memory

 MAR (Memory Address Register): this register stores

D
the address of the word to read or write. e
M c
 MDR (Memory Data Register): stores information read Address bus
A o Internal
R d structure
from memory or information to be written to memory.
e
 Decoder: allows you to select a memory word. r
 R/W: read/write command, this command allows you to
read or write to the memory (if R/W=1 then read
MDR
otherwise write)
 Address bus of size k bits Data Bus
 Data bus of size n bits
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Memory Organization
How to select a memory word?
When an address is loaded into the MAR memory address register,
the decoder will receive the same information as that of the MAR
register. At the output of the decoder we will have a single output
which is active. This output will allow us to select a single memory
Data bus
word
Memory
word
Control bus
D
e
M c
Memory Address bus
o
A d cell
R e
r

MDR
 Computer Memory Organisation
Memory Organization
How to calculate the capacity of a MC
Let N be the size of the address bus (size of the MAR register) Let K
be the size of the data bus (size of the MDR register or the size of a
memory word) We can express the capacity of the central memory
either in number of memory words or in bits (bytes, kilobytes, etc.)
Capacity = 2N Memory words
Capacity = 2N * k Bits
Example: In a memory the size of the address bus N=14 and the size
of the data bus k=4. Calculate the capacity of this memory?
C=214 = 16384 (4-bit words)
C= 214 * 4 = 65536 Bits = 8192 Octets = 8 Ko
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Memory Organization

How to calculate the capacity of a MC

Example2:
A memory with a capacity of 8 KB.
1- How many lines the data bus (MDR) does it have?
2- How many address bus (MAR) lines does it have? Byte = 8 bits so the bus has 8
3- What is its capacity in bytes? lines, each memory box
saves a word of 1 byte = 8 bits
Answer:
- This memory has 8 lines of data.
- This memory stores 8KB =8x210=8*1024=8192 byte (8-bit words).
There are therefore 8192 memory boxes. Since 8192 = 213, 13 address lines are required.
- The capacity of this memory is 8192 bytes = 8192* 8 bits = 65536 bits
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Memory Organization

To read information from central memory :

1. Place the address of the location to be read on the address bus.

2. Activate the memory read control signal on the control bus (R/W=1).
3. Wait for the memory to retrieve the data from the address memory location.
4. Read the data from the (MDR) data bus .
5. Drop the memory read control signal to terminate the read cycle (R/W=0).
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Memory Organization

To write information in MC you must carry out the following operations:

1. Place the address of the location to be written on the address bus.

2. Place the data to be written on the data bus (MDR).
3. Activate the memory write control signal on the control bus (W=1).
4. Wait for the memory to store the data at the address location..
5. Drop the memory write control signal to terminate the write cycle.