Memory hierarchy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:28, 4 December 2004

Revision as of 03:36, 13 December 2004

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The [[hierarchical]] arrangement of [[computer storage|storage]] in current [[computer architecture]]s is called the '''memory hierarchy'''. Each level of the hierarchy is of higher [[speed]] and lower [[latency]], and is of smaller size, than lower levels.

Most modern [[Central processing unit|CPUs]] are so fast that for most program workloads the [[locality of reference]] of memory accesses, and the efficiency of the [[caching]] and memory transfer between different levels of the hierarchy, is the practical limitation on processing speed. As a result, the CPU spends much of its time idling, waiting for memory I/O to complete.

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* [[Disk storage]] (hundreds of thousands of cycles latency, but very large)

==See also:==

* [[Virtual memory]]