CSC/ECE 506 Spring 2012/7b yw

Introduction

In this chapter we will first introduce the concept of virtual address memories, more precisely, virtually addressed caches. Pros and cons of virtually addressed caches are discussed. Then we discuss the need for TLB, a cache-like construct that translate virtual address to physical address. Then we raise the issue of TLB coherence.

Virtually addressed caches

Virtual memory is a memory management technology developed for multithread operating systems. This technique virtualizes a computer architecture's various forms of computer data storage (such as random-access memory and disk storage), allowing a program to be designed as though there is only one kind of memory, "virtual" memory, which behaves like directly addressable read/write memory (RAM).

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This technique greatly simplifies programmers job because modern operating system runs each process on its own dedicated virtual memory space. Thus each program runs as if it has the sole access of the virtual memory. In this way, programmers don't have to worry about how operating system switches between processes or how other process operates. Also, Virtual memory makes application programming easier by hiding fragmentation of physical memory; by delegating to the kernel the burden of managing the memory hierarchy (eliminating the need for the program to handle overlays explicitly); and, when each process is run in its own dedicated address space, by obviating the need to relocate program code or to access memory with relative addressing.

The introducing of virtual memory raise the problem of translating virtual address to physical address since we need physical address to access the actual content stored in cache. And that's where Translation Lookaside Buffer comes into use.

What is TLB

A translation lookaside buffer (TLB) is a cache that memory management hardware uses to improve virtual address translation speed. All current desktop, notebook, and server processors use a TLB to map virtual and physical address spaces, and it is nearly always present in any hardware which utilizes virtual memory. The TLB is typically implemented as content-addressable memory (CAM). The CAM search key is the virtual address and the search result is a physical address. If the requested address is present in the TLB, the CAM search yields a match quickly and the retrieved physical address can be used to access memory. This is called a TLB hit. If the requested address is not in the TLB, it is a miss, and the translation proceeds by looking up the page table in a process called a page walk. The page walk is an expensive process, as it involves reading the contents of multiple memory locations and using them to compute the physical address. After the physical address is determined by the page walk, the virtual address to physical address mapping is entered into the TLB.

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