Questions tagged [memory-access]
The memory-access tag has no usage guidance.
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Word- or byte-addressable? Correct terminology
Seemingly, a byte has established itself to be 8bit (is that correct?). RAM and NOR-flash can be normally accessed on a quite granular level, but it is up to the system architecture to determine if ...
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Will this address result in a cache hit or miss for these cache mapping functions?
The Problem: A CPU produces the following sequence of read addresses in hex.
Suppose the cache is empty to begin with and assuming an LRU replacement, determine whether each address ...
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Is this cache entry a hit or a miss? [duplicate]
The Problem: A CPU produces the following sequence of read addresses in hex. Suppose the cache is empty to begin with and assuming an LRU replacement, determine whether each address produces a hit or ...
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How does a computer determine the data type of a byte?
For example, if the computer has 10111100 stored on one particular byte of RAM, how does the computer know to interpret this byte as an integer, ASCII character, or ...
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Valid-invalid bit in a process page table
Valid-invalid bit is used to indicate whether a page in a process’s page table is valid or not. Why is it needed?
Does that mean that each page table has a certain minimum size, i.e. it can ...
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How do Hard Drives Send and Recieve Data?
Ok. I know this is probably a commonly asked question. Before you refer me to a site or answer this yourself, I ask for you to please read this through. I have been into computers and electronics for ...
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Changing from Kernel mode to User mode (and vice versa)
I am reading Operating Systems book by Galvin. Galvin explains, what are kernel & user modes, instruction privileges given for both modes & also about mode-bit. But I am interested to know how ...
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Relevance of memory reads while calculating the time complexity of an algorithm
Can there be a genuine algorithm in which number of memory reads far outnumber the
no. of operations performed? For example, number of memory reads scale with n^2, while no. of operations scale with ...
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Cache effective access time calculation
In order to calculate the effective access time of a memory sub-system, I see some different approaches, a.k.a formulas. All are reasonable, but I don't know how they differ and what is the correct ...
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What are pointers in low-level language like C
I was trying to understand pointers by watching YouTube videos. However, I could not understand
How do they work?
Why do we use them?
When do we use them?
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Can a software program be stored in just one memory cell?
I would define a software program as at least one line of code stored in at least one computer system's memory cell.
Can a software program be stored in just one memory cell or rather (due to binary ...
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How many bits would be needed for the byte?
The Problem: A high speed workstation has 64 bit words and 64 bit addresses with address resolution at the byte level. Assuming a direct mapped cache with 8192 64 byte lines, how many bits are in ...