Patent · US Expired

System for reducing access time to plural memory modules using five present-fetch and one prefetch address registers

US4384342A · kind A · utility

17Cited by
6References
4Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 29, 1980
Grant dateMay 17, 1983
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 29, 2000

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F12/0215
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A lookahead (guessahead) prefetching technique is used to reduce the average access time, for accessing memory modules when program addresses are modified into effective addresses for addressing the modules. A first memory address register stores the column address and module designation portions of the current effective address, a second memory address register stores the row address portion of the current effective address, and a third memory address register stores the module designation portion of the prior effective address. Since the same module is frequently accessed many times in succession, the average access time is reduced by starting an access based upon the contents of the second and third memory address registers without waiting until the column address and module designation portions of the current effective address are available for storage in the first memory address register. The access is completed, after the column address and module designation portions of the current effective address are determined, if a comparator which is connected to the first and third memory address registers confirms that the same memory module is being successively accessed. If not, th…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.