Chapter 7

Memory Organization
 Characteristic of Memory

• Memory is unit used for storage, and retrieval of data and instructions.
• A typical computer system is equipped with a hierarchy of memory subsystems, some
internal to the system and some external.
• Internal memory systems are accessible by the CPU directly and external memory
systems are accessible by the CPU through an I/O module.
• Memory systems are classified according to their key characteristics, as stated below:
1. Location:
• Registers: The CPU requires its own local memory in the form of registers and
also control unit requires local memories which are fast accessible.
• Internal (main): is often equated with the main memory (RAM).
• External (secondary): consists of peripheral storage devices like Hard disks,
magnetic tapes, etc. 2
 … Cont’d

2. Capacity
• It is measured in bytes.
• Since the capacity of memory in a typical memory is very large, the prefixes kilo
(K), mega (M), and giga(G).
• A kilobyte is 210 = 1024 bytes, a megabyte is 220 bytes, and a giga byte is 230 bytes.
3. Unit of Transfer: is equal to the number of data lines into and out of memory module.
• Word: For internal memory, unit of transfer is equal to the number of data lines into
and out of the memory module.
• Block: For external memory, data are often transferred in much larger units than a
word, and these are referred to as blocks.
4. Access Method
• Sequential: Tape units have sequential access. 3
 … Cont’d

• Data are generally stored in units called "records".

• Data is accessed sequentially; the records may be passed (or rejected) until the
record that is searched is found.
• Random: Each addressable location in memory has a unique addressing
mechanism.
• The time to access a given location is independent of the sequence of prior
accesses and constant.
• Any location can be selected at random and directly addressed and accessed.
• Main memory and cache systems are random access.
5. Performance
• Access time: For random-access memory, this is the time it takes to perform a read
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or write operation: that is, the time from the instant that an address is presented to the
 … Cont’d

• For nonrandom-access memory, access time is the time it takes to position the read-write
mechanism at the desired location.
• Transfer rate: This is the rate at which data can be transferred into or out of a memory unit.
6. Physical Type
• Semiconductor: Main memory, cache. RAM, ROM.
• Magnetic: Magnetic disks (hard disks), magnetic tape units.
• Optical: CD, DVD.
7. Physical Characteristics
• Volatile/nonvolatile: In a volatile memory, information decays naturally or is lost when
electrical power is switched off. RAM is erasable.
• Erasable/nonerasable: Nonerasable memory cannot be altered (except by destroying the
storage unit). ROM’s are nonerasable.

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 Memory Hierarchy

• A computer system is equipped with a hierarchy of memory subsystems.

• There are several memory types with very different physical properties.
• The important characteristics of memory devices are:
 cost per bit,
 access time,
 data transfer rate,
 alterability and compatibility with processor technologies.
• Figure 7.1 below shows the hierarchy of memory in a typical memory with a trend in
access time, amount of storage, and cost per byte.

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 Figure 7.1: Memory Hierarchy

 Design constraints: How much? How fast? How expensive?

• Faster access time, greater cost per bit
• Greater capacity, smaller cost per bit
• Greater capacity, slower access time
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 Main Memory

• The main memory (RAM) stores data and instructions.

• RAMs are built from semiconductor materials.
• Semiconductor memories fall into two categories:
1. SRAMs (static RAMs)
2. DRAMs (dynamic RAMs).
1. STATIC RAM (SRAM): In a SRAM, binary values are stored using traditional flip-
flop logic-gate.
• A static RAM will hold its data as long as power is supplied to it.
2. DYNAMIC RAM (DRAM) is made with cells that store data as charge on capacitors.
• The presence or absence of charge in a capacitor is interpreted as a binary 1 or 0.
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 … Cont’d

Dynamic Vs Static RAM

• Dynamic RAM: for example: Charge in capacitor.
 It requires periodic refreshing.
• Static RAM: for example: Flip-flop logic-gate.
 Applying power is enough (no need for refreshing).
• Dynamic RAM is simpler and hence smaller than the static RAM.
 Therefore, it is denser and less expensive.
 But it requires supporting refresh circuitry.
• Static RAMs are faster than dynamic RAMs.
2. ROM: The data is actually wired in the factory.
• The data can never be altered. 9
 … Cont’d

3. PROM: Programmable ROM.

• It can only be programmed once after its fabrication.
• It requires special device to program.
4. EPROM: Erasable Programmable ROM.
• It can be programmed multiple times.
• Whole capacity need to be erased by ultraviolet radiation before a new
programming activity.
• It cannot be partially programmed.
5. EEPROM: Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM.
• Erased and programmed electrically.
• It can be partially programmed.
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• Write operation takes considerably longer time compared to read operation.
 … Cont’d

Connection of RAM and CPU

• Data transfer between the main memory and the CPU register takes place
through two registers namely MAR (memory address register) and MDR
(memory data register).
 If MAR is k bits long and MDR is n bits long, the main memory unit can
contain up to 2k addressable locations.
 During a “memory cycle” n bits of data are transferred between main
memory and CPU.
 This transfer takes place over the processor bus, which has k address lines
and n data lines.
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 … Cont’d

Figure 7.2: Connection of RAM and CPU

• The CPU initiates a memory operation by loading the appropriate data into registers
MDR and MAR, and setting either Read or Write memory control line to 1.
• When the required operation is completed the memory control circuitry sends Memory
Function Completed (MFC) signal to CPU. 12
 … Cont’d

• The time that elapses between the initiation of an operation and completion of
that operation is called memory access time.
• The minimum time delay between two successive memory operations is
called memory cycle time.
• The cycle time is usually slightly lower than the access time.

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 Cache Memory

• Cache memory is a small, high-speed RAM buffer located between the CPU and main
memory.
• Cache memory holds a copy of the instructions (instruction cache) or data (operand or
data cache) currently being used by the CPU.
• The main purpose of a cache is to accelerate your computer while keeping the price of
the computer low.

Figure 7.3: Placement of Cache memory in the computer 14

 … Cont’d

Hit Ratio
• The ratio of the total number of hits divided by the total CPU accesses to memory (i.e. hits
plus misses) is called Hit Ratio.
• Hit Ratio = Total Number of Hits / (Total Number of Hits + Total Number of
Miss)
• Example: A system with 512 x 12 cache and 32 K x 12 of main memory.

Figure 7.4: Hit Ratio 15

 Replacement Algorithms of Cache Memory

• Replacement algorithms are used when there is no available space in a cache in which
to place a data.
• Four cache replacement algorithms are:
1. Least Recently Used (LRU): selects for replacement the item that has been least
recently used by the CPU.
2. First-In-First-Out (FIFO): selects for replacement the item that has been in the cache
from the longest time.
3. Least Frequently Used (LFU): selects for replacement the item that has been least
frequently used by the CPU.
4. Random: selects for replacement the item randomly.
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 … Cont’d

Writing into Cache

• When memory write operations are performed, CPU first writes into the cache memory.
• These modifications made by CPU during a write operation, on the data saved in cache,
need to be written back to main memory or to auxiliary memory.
• These two popular cache write policies are:
1. Write-Through
2. Write-Back
1. Write-Through: In a write through cache, the main memory is updated each time the
CPU writes into cache.
• the main memory always contains the same data as the cache contains.
• This characteristic is desirable in a system which uses direct memory access scheme
of data transfer. 23
 … Cont’d

• The I/O devices communicating through DMA receive the most recent data.
2. Write-Back: only the cache memory is updated during a write operation.
• The updated locations in the cache memory are marked by a flag so that later
on, when the word is removed from the cache, it is copied into the main
memory.
• The words are removed from the cache time to time to make room for a new
block of words.

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 Virtual Memory

• Virtual Memory refers to something which appears to be present but actually it is not.
• The virtual memory technique allows users to use more memory for a program than the
real memory of a computer.
• So, virtual memory is the concept that gives the illusion to the user that they will have
main memory equal to the capacity of secondary storage media.
• The program is stored in the secondary memory.
• The memory management unit (MMU) transfers the currently needed part of the
program from the secondary memory to the main memory for execution.
• This to and from movement of instructions and data between the main memory and the
secondary memory is called Swapping.
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 Address Space and Memory Space

• Virtual address is the address used by the programmer and the set of such addresses is called
the address space or virtual memory.
• An address in main memory is called a location or physical address.
• The set of such locations in main memory is called the memory space or physical memory.
• CPU generated logical address consisting of a logical page number plus the location within
that page (x).
• It must be mapped onto an actual (physical) main memory address by the operating system
using mapper.
• If the page is present in the main memory, CPU gets the required data from the main memory.
• If the mapper detects that the requested page is not present in main memory, a page fault
occurs and the page must be read from secondary storage (4, 5) into a page frame in main
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memory.
 … Cont’d

Figure 4.8: Address Space And Memory Space

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 … Cont’d

Address Mapping Using Memory Mapping Page Table

• When the requested page is not available in the main memory, we
can say that a page fault has been occurred in the main memory.
• Then the virtual address generated by the CPU is used to take out
the requested page from the secondary storage media to the main
memory to remove this page fault.
• If empty page frame is not available, then a page must be
removed from page frame in main memory.

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 Page Replacement Algorithms

• In a computer operating system that uses paging for virtual memory

management, page replacement algorithms decide which memory
pages to page out (swap out, write to disk) when a page of memory
needs to be allocated.
• Paging happens when a page fault occurs and a free page cannot be
used to satisfy the allocation, either because there are none, or
because the number of free pages is lower than some threshold.

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 … Cont’d

1. FIFO Algorithm
• Consider a paging system having capacity of 3 pages.
• The execution of a program requires references to five distinct pages P1, P2, P3,
P4 and P5.
• The pages are executed in the following sequence:
P2 P3 P2 P1 P5 P2 P4 P5 P3 P2 P5 P2

Figure 4.9: FIFO Algorithm 30

 … Cont’d

• Page hit = 3
• Page fault = 9
• Total number of reference page (Page hit + Page fault ) = 12
• Hit ratio = (Page hit / Page hit + Page fault ) *100
= (3/12) * 100
= 25%
• Page Fault ratio = (Page fault / Page hit + Page fault ) *100
= (9/12) * 100
= 75%

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 … Cont’d

2. Least Recently Used (LRU)

• keeps track of page usage over a short period of time.
• implemented by associating a counter with every page that is in main
memory.
• When a page is referenced, its associated counter is set to 0.
• At fixed intervals of time, the counters associated with all pages
presently in memory are incremented by 1.
• The least recently used page is the page with the highest count.
• The counters are often called aging registers, as their count indicates
their age, that is, how long their associated pages have been referenced.
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 … Cont’d

• Consider a paging system having capacity of 3 pages.

• The execution of a program requires references to five distinct pages P1, P2, P3,
P4 and P5.
• The pages are executed in the following sequence:
P2 P3 P2 P1 P5 P2 P4 P5 P3 P2 P5 P2

Figure 4.10: Least Recently Used (LRU)

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 … Cont’d

• Page hit = 5
• Page fault = 7
• Total number of reference page (Page hit + Page fault ) = 12
• Hit ratio = (Page hit / Page hit + Page fault ) *100
= (5/12) * 100
= 41.67%
• Page Fault ratio = (Page fault / Page hit + Page fault ) *100
= (7/12) * 100
= 58.33%

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 … Cont’d

2. Optimal (OPT)
• The optimal policy selects that page for replacement for which the time to the next
reference is longest.
• results in fewest number of page faults.
• But, this algorithm is impossible to implement.
• At the time of page fault, the operating system has no way of knowing when each
of the pages will be referenced next.
• However, it does serve as a standard against which to judge other algorithms.
• Consider a paging system having capacity of 3 pages.
• The execution of a program requires references to five distinct pages P1, P2, P3,
P4 and P5.
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 … Cont’d

• The pages are executed in the following sequence:

P2 P3 P2 P1 P5 P2 P4 P5 P3 P2 P5 P2

Figure 4.11: Optimal (OPT)

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 … Cont’d

• Page hit = 6
• Page fault = 6
• Total number of reference page (Page hit + Page fault ) = 12
• Hit ratio = (Page hit / Page hit + Page fault ) *100
= (6/12) * 100
= 50%
• Page Fault ratio = (Page fault / Page hit + Page fault ) *100
= (6/12) * 100
= 50%

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 External Memory

• External Memory is also called Secondary memory.

 it is also called auxiliary memory.
 It stores information that is not necessarily in current use.
 It is slower and having higher capacity than primary memory.
 This kind of memory is large, slow and inexpensive.
 It is non-volatile storage media i.e. the contents are not erased when the power is
switched off.
• Magnetic tape
• Floppy disk
• Hard disk and
• Optical disk are the examples of secondary storage. 38
 Magnetic Disks

• Commonly used direct-access secondary storage device.

• It is a thin, circular plate made of metal & plastic, which is coated with iron-oxide.
• We can randomly access the data.
• Can also be erased & reused indefinitely.
• They must be stored in dust free environment.
• It stores large amount of data.
• Come in different sizes.
• Due to large storage capacity of magnetic disks and lesser failures the use of these
devices increasing day by day.
• There are two types of magnetic disks: Floppy Disk and Hard Disk
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 … Cont’d

• More suitable than magnetic tapes for a wider range of applications because they
support direct access of data.
• Due to their low cost and high data recording densities, the cost per it of storage is low
for magnetic disks.
Benefit of magnetic disks
• Can be erased and reused many times.
• Suitable for both on-line and off-line storage of data.
• Floppy disks are compact and light in weight.
• Hence they are easy to handle and store.
• Very large amount of data can be stored in a small storage space.
• Data transfer rate for a magnetic disk system is normally higher than a tape
system. 40
 … Cont’d

1. Floppy Disk
• Also known as floppies or diskettes.
• It was introduced by IBM in 1972.
• It is a portable, inexpensive, storage medium that consists of thin,
circular, flexible plastic Mylar film.
• Standard floppy disk has storage capacity up to 1.44MB.
• Floppy disks are compact, lightweight and easily portable from one place
to another.
• Most popular and inexpensive secondary storage medium used in small
computers. 41
 … Cont’d

2. Hard Disk
• Round, flat piece of rigid metal (frequently aluminum) disks coated with magnetic
oxide.
• It is a storage device that contains one or more inflexible, circular patterns that
store data, instructions & information.
• We can store documents, presentation, database, e-mails, messages, music, video,
software etc.
• Come in many sizes, ranging from 1 to 14-inch diameter.
• Hard disk of capacities 10GB, 20GB, 40GB, 500GB, 1TB and even more are
easily available.
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 RAID(Redundant Array of Independent Disks) Technology

• RAID is a set of physical disk drives viewed by the operating system as a single logical
drive.
• Data are distributed across the physical drives of an array.
• Redundant disk capacity is used to store parity information which guarantees data
recoverability in case of a disk failure.

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 Optical Disks

• Consists of a circular disk, which is coated with a thin metal or some other material that is
highly reflective.
• Laser beam technology for recording and reading of data on the disk.
• Also known as laser disk / optical laser disk, due to the use of laser beam technology.
• Proved to be a promising random access medium for high capacity secondary storage because
it can store extremely large amounts of data in a limited space.
• Access times are typically in the range of 100 to 300 milliseconds and that of hard disks are in
the range of 10 to 30 milliseconds.
• The most popular optical disk uses a disk of 5.25-inch diameter with storage capacity of
around 650 Megabytes.
• The optical disk became the preferred medium for music, movies and software programs
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because of its many advantages.
 … Cont’d

• Compact, lightweight, durable and digital, the optical disk also provides a
minimum of 650 MB of data storage.
Types of Optical Disks
1. CD: Compact Disk.
• A non-erasable disk that stores digitized audio information.
• The standard system uses 12-cm disks and can record more than 60
minutes of uninterrupted playing time.
i. CD-ROM: Compact Disk-Read Only Memory
• A non-erasable disk used for storing computer data.
• The standard system uses 12-cm disks and can hold more than 650
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Megabytes.
 … Cont’d

ii. CD-R: CD Recordable

• The user can write to the disk only once.
iii. CD-RW: CD Rewriteable
• The user can erase and rewrite to the disk multiple times.
2. DVD: Digital Versatile Disk
• A technology for producing digitized, compressed representation of video
information, as well as large volumes of other digital data.
• Both 8 and 12 cm diameters are used, with a double-sided capacity of up to 17
GB.
• The basic DVD is read-only (DVD-ROM).
i. DVD-R: DVD Recordable
• The user can write to the disk only once.
• Only one-sided disks can be used. 46
 … Cont’d

ii. DVD-RW: DVD Rewritable

• Only one-sided disks can be used.
• The user can erase and rewrite to the disk multiple times.
• Only one-sided disks can be used.
iii. Blu-Ray Disk
• Is a technology platform that can store sound and video while maintaining
high quality and also access the stored content in an easy-to-use way.
Advantage of Blu-ray Disc's
 large capacity and high-speed data transfer rate.
 Large recording capacity up to 27 GB.
 High-speed data transfer rate 36 Mbps.
 Easy to use disc cartridge. 47
 … Cont’d

Advantage of Optical Disks

 The cost-per-bit of storage for optical disks is very low because of their
low cost and enormous storage density.
 Optical disk drives do not have any mechanical read/write heads to rub
against or crash into the disk surface.
• This makes optical disks a more reliable storage medium than
magnetic tapes or magnetic disks.
 Optical disks have a data storage life in excess of 30 years.
• This makes them a better storage medium for data archiving as
compared to magnetic tapes or magnetic disks.
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 … Cont’d

 Due to their compact size and light weight, optical disks are easy to
handle, store, and port from one place to another.
 Music CDs can be played on a computer having a CD-ROM drive
along with a sound board and speakers.
• This allows computer systems to be also used as music systems.
 As data once stored on an optical disk becomes permanent, danger of
stored data getting inadvertently erased/overwritten is removed.

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 … Cont’d

Limitation of Optical disk

• It is largely read-only (permanent) storage medium.
• Data once recorded, cannot be erased and hence the optical disks cannot
be reused.
• The data access speed for optical disks is slower than magnetic disks.
• Optical disks require a complicated drive mechanism.

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 Magnetic Tape
• Magnetic Tape is a plastic ribbon which is usually ½ inch or ¼ inch wide & 50 to 2400 feet
long.
 It is coated with iron-oxide material.
 It is similar to the tape of audio cassettes of tape recorders.
 Data is stored as binary digits.
 Data is accessed sequentially so searching becomes difficult.
Advantages
• Store data up to few gigabytes and Low cost.
• Magnetic tape used by both mainframes and microcomputers
Disadvantages:
• Sequential access so searching becomes difficult.
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• We can either read or write data at one time.