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1505 Memory Systems and Cache William Stallings

The document discusses characteristics of memory systems including location, capacity, unit of transfer, and methods of accessing data. It then covers performance parameters like access time, memory cycle time, and transfer rate. It introduces the memory hierarchy and trade-off between capacity, access time, and cost. A diagram shows levels of the memory hierarchy including registers, cache, and main memory.

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13 views7 pages

1505 Memory Systems and Cache William Stallings

The document discusses characteristics of memory systems including location, capacity, unit of transfer, and methods of accessing data. It then covers performance parameters like access time, memory cycle time, and transfer rate. It introduces the memory hierarchy and trade-off between capacity, access time, and cost. A diagram shows levels of the memory hierarchy including registers, cache, and main memory.

Uploaded by

thecrazyone137
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Characteristics of Memory Systems

 Location
 Refers to whether memory is internal and external to the computer
 Internal memory is often equated with main memory
 Processor requires its own local memory, in the form of registers
 Cache is another form of internal memory
 External memory consists of peripheral storage devices that are accessible to the
processor via I/O controllers

 Capacity
 Memory is typically expressed in terms of bytes

 Unit of transfer
 For internal memory the unit of transfer is equal to the number of electrical lines
into and out of the memory module
Method of Accessing Units of Data
Sequential Random
Direct access Associative
access access

Each addressable location in


A word is retrieved based on
Memory is organized into Involves a shared read-write memory has a unique,
a portion of its contents
units of data called records mechanism physically wired-in
rather than its address
addressing mechanism

Each location has its own


The time to access a given
Individual blocks or records addressing mechanism and
Access must be made in a location is independent of
have a unique address based retrieval time is constant
specific linear sequence the sequence of prior
on physical location independent of location or
accesses and is constant
prior access patterns

Any location can be selected


Cache memories may
Access time is variable Access time is variable at random and directly
employ associative access
addressed and accessed

Main memory and some


cache systems are random
access
Capacity and Performance:

The two most important characteristics of memory

Three performance parameters are used:

Memory cycle time


Access time (latency) • Access time plus any additional time
Transfer rate
• For random-access memory it is the time required before second access can • The rate at which data can be transferred
it takes to perform a read or write commence into or out of a memory unit
operation • Additional time may be required for • For random-access memory it is equal to
• For non-random-access memory it is the transients to die out on signal lines or to 1/(cycle time)
time it takes to position the read-write regenerate data if they are read
mechanism at the desired location destructively
• Concerned with the system bus, not the
processor
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Memory Hierarchy

 Design constraints on a computer’s memory can be summed up by


three questions:
 How much, how fast, how expensive

 There is a trade-off among capacity, access time, and cost


 Faster access time, greater cost per bit
 Greater capacity, smaller cost per bit
 Greater capacity, slower access time

 The way out of the memory dilemma is not to rely on a single


memory component or technology, but to employ a memory
hierarchy
+ Memory Hierarchy - Diagram
Cache and Main Memory

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