Memory hierarchy in computer architecture

• Login • Category • Java • JSP • iOS • HTML • Android • Python • C Programming • C++ Programming • C# • PHP • CSS • Javascript • jQuery • SAP • SAP HANA • Data Structure • RDBMS • MySQL • Mathematics • 8085 Microprocessor • Operating System • Digital Electronics • Analysis of Algorithms • Mobile Development • Front End • Web Development • Selenium • MongoDB • Computer Network • General Topics The Computer memory hierarchy looks like a pyramid structure which is used to describe the differences among memory types. It separates the computer storage based on hierarchy. Level 0: CPU registers Level 1: Cache memory Level 2: Main memory or primary memory Level 3: Magnetic disks or secondary memory Level 4: Optical disks or magnetic types or tertiary Memory In Memory Hierarchy the cost of memory, capacity is inversely proportional to speed. Here the devices are arranged in a manner Fast to slow, that is form register to Tertiary memory. Let us discuss each level in detail: Level-0 − Registers The registers are present inside the CPU. As they are present inside the CPU, they have least access time. Registers are most expensive and smallest in size generally in kilobytes. They are implemented by using Flip-Flops. Level-1 − Cache Cache memory is used to store the segments of a program that are frequently accessed by the processor. It is expensive and smaller in size generally in Megabytes and is implemented by using static RAM. Level-2 − Primary or Main Memory It directly communica...

1,530,841students that started their journey with us. We're committed to removing barriers to education and helping you build essential skills to advance your career goals. Start learning here, or check out our Log in or Sign up to enroll in courses, track your progress, gain access to final exams, and get a free certificate of completion! In prior units, you have studied elementary hardware components like combinational circuits and sequential circuits, functional hardware components like adders, arithmetic logical units, and data buses, and computational components like processors. This unit will address the memory hierarchy of a computer and will identify different types of memory and how they interact with one another. This unit will look into a memory type known as cache and will discuss how caches improve computer performance. This unit will then discuss the main memory, DRAM (or the Dynamic Random Access Memory), and the associated concept of virtual memory. You will take a look at the common framework for memory hierarchy. The unit concludes with a review of the design of a cache hierarchy for an industrial microprocessor. Completing this unit should take you approximately 6 hours. • Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to: • describe cache memory and calculate how much it speeds up processing times using various cache structures; • calculate miss rate for various cache configurations; and • explain the importance of memory hierarchy in compute...

• 1.Computer Architecture:Introduction • 2.Instruction Set Architecture • 3.Performance Metrics • 4.Summarizing Performance, Amdahl’s law and Benchmarks • 5.Fixed Point Arithmetic Unit I • 6.Fixed Point Arithmetic Unit II • 7.Floating Point Arithmetic Unit • 8.Execution of a Complete Instruction – Datapath Implementation • 9.Execution of a Complete Instruction – Control Flow • 10.Pipelining – MIPS Implementation • 11.Pipeline Hazards • 12.Handling Data Hazards • 13.Handling Control Hazards • 14.Dynamic Branch Prediction • 15.Exception handling and floating point pipelines • 16.Advanced Concepts of ILP – Dynamic scheduling • 17.Dynamic scheduling - Example • 18.Dynamic scheduling – Loop Based Example • 19.Dynamic scheduling with Speculation • 20.Exploiting ILP with Software Approaches I • 21.Memory Hierarchy Design - Basics • 22.Basics of Cache Memory • 23.Cache Optimizations I • 24.Cache Optimizations II • 25.Cache Optimizations III • 26.Virtual Memory I • 27.Virtual Memory II • 28.Introduction to Multiprocessors • 29.Cache Coherence I • 30.Cache Coherence II • 31.Other Issues with Parallel Processors • 32.Exploiting Data Level Parallelism • 33.Case Studies of Multicore Architectures I • 34.Case Studies of Multicore Architectures II • 35.Warehouse-Scale Computers • 36.Summary and Concluding Remarks • 37.Exploiting ILP with Software Approaches II • 38.Multiple Issue Processors I • 39.Multiple Issue Processors II • 40.Thread Level Parallelism – SMT and CMP • 41.Summary and C...

By • • What is hierarchy in computing? Generally speaking, hierarchy refers to an organizational structure in which items are ranked in a specific manner, usually according to levels of importance. In computing, there are various types of hierarchical systems. For example, in most Similarly, computer Computer hierarchy explained The word hierarchy comes from the Greek words hieros, meaning "sacred," and archos, meaning "ruler." It's likely that the word first entered the English lexicon in the 14th century, referring to a system in which things or people are arranged in some order, usually according to their importance. In computing devices, file systems are usually hierarchical. In such systems, a Tree hierarchies illustrated In hierarchical memory systems, processor ( registers are at the top of a pyramid-like structure (level 0) while locality of references." This behavior refers to the tendency of programs to access instructions that have addresses or memory locations near one another in order to speed up access and improve performance. Memory hierarchical pyramid The five levels in a memory hierarchy are categorized based on speed and usage and form a pyramid. The levels in a memory hierarchical pyramid are the following: • Level 0: CPU registers • Level 1: Cache memory • Level 2: Primary memory or main memory • Level 3: Secondary memory or magnetic disks or • Level 4: Tertiary memory or optical disks or magnetic tapes The primary memory is known as the internal memor...

Memory Hierarchy A memory unit is an essential component in any digital computer since it is needed for storing programs and data. Typically, a memory unit can be classified into two categories: • The memory unit that establishes direct communication with the CPU is called Main Memory. The main memory is often referred to as RAM (Random Access Memory). • The memory units that provide backup storage are called Auxiliary Memory. For instance, magnetic disks and magnetic tapes are the most commonly used auxiliary memories. Apart from the basic classifications of a memory unit, the memory hierarchy consists all of the storage devices available in a computer system ranging from the slow but high-capacity auxiliary memory to relatively faster main memory. The following image illustrates the components in a typical memory hierarchy. Auxiliary Memory Auxiliary memory is known as the lowest-cost, highest-capacity and slowest-access storage in a computer system. Auxiliary memory provides storage for programs and data that are kept for long-term storage or when not in immediate use. The most common examples of auxiliary memories are magnetic tapes and magnetic disks. A magnetic disk is a digital computer memory that uses a magnetization process to write, rewrite and access data. For example, hard drives, zip disks, and floppy disks. Magnetic tape is a storage medium that allows for data archiving, collection, and backup for different kinds of data. Main Memory The main memory in a co...

Overview Our computer systems consist of various types of memory devices like register, cache memory, main memory, flash memory, magnetic disks, magnetic tapes, etc, each of these components has different performance rates and specific usages. Memory Hierarchy is the meaningful arrangement and visualization of these various memory devices concerning their performance, access time, and cost per bit, which proves to be helpful while designing a new system to balance its overall performance-to-cost ratio. Scope • In this article, we are going to understand what Memory Hierarchy is, the different types of memory devices that are used in our system, and why the Memory Hierarchy design is needed • We will also discuss the types and characteristics of Memory Hierarchy. What is Memory Hierarchy? When a Computer System is designed, then a large number of different devices are used in it, like processors, different memory devices, motherboards, etc, and these parts are very expensive, which means we are not free to use them as many numbers of times as we want, meaning we are bound to use each particular part only a specific number of times in the design, to balance the overall cost. Now, talking about the memory devices in a system, when a computer system is designed, then a wide variety of memory devices are used, the most commonly used memory device that we all are familiar with is RAM, the Random Access Memory. But it is not the only memory that is used in our systems, we have re...