Patent · US Expired

Computer having an indexed local ram to store previously translated virtual addresses

US4410941A · kind A · utility

33Cited by
2References
2Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 29, 1980
Grant dateOct 18, 1983
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 29, 2000

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F12/1036
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A multitasking data processing machine supports virtual memory comprising a plurality of segments, and has physical memory comprising relatively fast main memory and relatively slow secondary memory. A constantly varying subset of secondary memory paged contents is copied in main memory page frames. When a memory access is required during operation of the machine, a virtual address is generated, which must be translated into a physical address, in order to address main memory. The data processing machine provides an indexed local random access memory (T/RAM) for storing previously translated addresses. The T/RAM has a capacity of one entry for each page of supported virtual memory. Before a translation is performed, the T/RAM is indexed by the virtual address; in case of a T/RAM fault, translation is performed and the translated physical address is loaded to the indexed location before restarting the memory operation. A subsequent reference to the same virtual address indexes the previously translated physical address, which is then used for addressing main memory and is also applied to index a reference/change table. A stored monitor/no monitor signal associated with each segment …

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