Virtual Memory: Issues of Implementation

ion layer3,4 hides hardware particulars from the higher levels of software but can also compromise performance and compatibility; the higher levels of software often make unwitting assumptions about ComputingPractices Bruce Jacob University of Maryland Trevor Mudge University of Michigan those hardware particulars, creating inconsistencies between expected and actual behavior.5 Here we present the software mechanisms of virtual memory from a hardware perspective and then describe several hardware examples and how they support virtual-memory software (see the architecture sidebars beginning on page 39 for hardware examples). Our focus is on the mechanisms and structures popular in today’s OSs and microprocessors, which are geared toward demand-paged virtual memory. However, this focus in no way impedes our goal: to show the diversity of virtual-memory support and, by implication, how this diversity complicates the design and porting of OSs. Our companion article in the forthcoming Jul...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: COMPUTER
• Authors: Bruce L. Jacob, Trevor N. Mudge
• Keywords: COMPUTER 1998, Hardware, Hardware Examples, Hardware Particulars