What exactly is a page of memory?

[joc_06]

Page of memory?

What exactly is a page of memory?
As i understand it, it is just the way memory is divided up.
Eg on x86 each page is 4k in size etc.

I'm working here with "2 page 0 memory map configuration's"
Are there standard configurations or do they vary from project to project?+

thanks!

Ps . Oh ya. Im using solaris here but cannot download using the free server. It tells me authorisation not sucessful. Any ideas?

 

[tkbits]

Re: Page of memory?

The meaning of "page" depends on what memory system you are talking about.

In 8-bit micros, where 16-bit addresses are stored in two 8-bit bytes, it's convenient to treat the high byte as a memory page number. So a page is what can be addressed by changing only one byte - the low memory address byte. Page 0 is then the "memory" addresses 0000 - 00FF.

 

[jitendra]

Re: Page of memory?

Hi,
Paging is done to reduce the memory access time. As already mentioned, it is convenient to use upper bits for page numbers and lower for address within page.
e.g. 256K memory can be divided into 4 page memory with page size 64K. Now the lower 16 bits are used for addressing a location within 64K page and upper two bits are used to decode the page number. Such memory division is generally mentioned in data sheets and it varies from memory to memory.
Paging is for better memory management. In case of cache memory usually a page is store for possible future use, hence more the page size more is the chance for "HIT" but it increases the cost of Cache.

Regards,
JItendra