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Memory and Storage

Memory can be organized in a hierarchy based on performance and cost, with registers at the top providing the fastest access but limited storage, and storage devices at the bottom providing the lowest cost per bit but slowest access. RAM is volatile memory that allows any location to be accessed in the same time; the two main types are SRAM which is fast but large and power-intensive, and DRAM which is slower but denser and lower-power. Memory chips are organized into a grid structure with rows and columns accessed for read and write operations. ROM is non-volatile memory used for storing fixed data like the BIOS, while flash memory allows electrical erasing and rewriting of sections.

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109 views20 pages

Memory and Storage

Memory can be organized in a hierarchy based on performance and cost, with registers at the top providing the fastest access but limited storage, and storage devices at the bottom providing the lowest cost per bit but slowest access. RAM is volatile memory that allows any location to be accessed in the same time; the two main types are SRAM which is fast but large and power-intensive, and DRAM which is slower but denser and lower-power. Memory chips are organized into a grid structure with rows and columns accessed for read and write operations. ROM is non-volatile memory used for storing fixed data like the BIOS, while flash memory allows electrical erasing and rewriting of sections.

Uploaded by

Ashish Gupta
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Memory and Storage

- Sheetal Gosrani
Overview

 Memory Hierarchy
 RAM
 Memory Chip Organization
 ROM
 Flash Memory
Memory Hierarchy

Increasing performance
and
increasing cost

Slow and
inexpensive
Memory Hierarchy (contd)
Registers
 top in the hierarchy

 matched in speed to the CPU

 but are large and consume significant power

 number of registers in a processor are small

Secondary and off-line storage devices


 at the bottom of the hierarchy

 cost per stored bit small in terms of money and

power
 but access time is very long compared to

registers
Random Access Memory(RAM)

 The term “random” means any memory location


can be accessed in the same amount of time
regardless of its position in the memory.
 Volatile memory
 Types of RAM:
 SRAM
 DRAM
Static RAM

 Static RAM (SRAM) based on flip flops


 Contents of each location persist as long as
power is applied.
 Fast but relatively large
 Consume a lot of power
 Used for memory applications that are small but
fast
Dynamic RAM

 Dynamic RAM (DRAM) employ capacitors


 Capacitor stores electric charge whose level
represents a 1 or 0
 Capacitors dissipate with time and hence the
charge must be restored frequently
 DRAMs
smaller, slower than SRAMs
support low cost, low power and high density and
hence used in main memory
Memory Chip organization
RAM chip

 A0 – Am-1 : Address lines from 0 to m-1


 CS : Chip Select (CS = 0, chip selected)
 WR : ReadWrite (WR = 0, write operation)
RAM Grid
RAM Grid
 During read operation:
 Entire row is selected
 It is fed into the column MUX
 MUX selects a single bit for output
 During write operation:
 Single bit to be written is distributed by the DEMUX
to the target column
 Row decoder selects the proper column to be
written
Read Only Memory(ROM)

 Data stored in these chips is nonvolatile -- it is


not lost when power is turned off.
 On turn on, the computer loads BIOS from
ROM
 Data stored in these chips is either
unchangeable or requires a special operation to
change
 Applications: Videogames, calculators,
microwave oven, etc
Read Only Memory(ROM) (contd)

 Lets see the circuit for a ROM that stores four


four-bit words(0101, 1011, 1110, 0000)
 PROM burner allows contents of the ROM to be
overwritten only once
 EPROMs – could be written several times
 EEPROMs – allow the content to be rewritten
electrically
Flash Memory
 A section of memory cells can be erased in a
single step, or 'flash', thus the name
 Nonvolatile memory
 Flash memory is used for easy and fast
information storage in such devices as digital
cameras, mobile, video game consoles
References

 Textbook: Computer Organization and


Architecture
 Wiki pages
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_storage
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_random_acces
s_memory
 http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram.htm
 http://computer.howstuffworks.com/computer-
memory1.htm
Thank you

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