COMPUTER MEMORY SYSTEM Ch-3

COMPILED BY ABEL H. [email protected] 1

 INTRODUCTION
The system memory is the place where the computer holds current programs and
data that are in use. There are various levels of computer memory, including ROM,
RAM, cache, page and graphics, each with specific objectives for system operation.
Although memory is used in many different forms around modern PC systems, it can
be divided into two essential types: RAM and ROM. ROM, or Read Only Memory, is
relatively small, but essential to how a computer works. ROM is always found on
motherboards, but is increasingly found on graphics cards and some other expansion
cards and peripherals.
With the increased density and power concerns in modern computing chips,
components are shrinking, heat is increasing, and hardware sensitivity to
outside events is growing. These variables, combined with the extreme number
of components expected to make their way into computing centers as our
computational demands expand, are posing a significant challenge to the
design and implementation of future extreme-scale systems. Of particular
interest are soft errors in memory.
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CONT.
RAM, or Random Access Memory, is “volatile.” This means that it only holds data while
power is present. RAM changes constantly as the system operates, providing the storage for
all data required by the operating system and software. Because of the demands made by
increasingly powerful operating systems and software, system RAM requirements have
accelerated dramatically over time.
Memory
Memory is the most essential element of a computing system because without it computer
can’t perform simple tasks. Computer memory is of two basic type Primary memory /
Volatile memory and Secondary memory / non-volatile memory. Random Access Memory
(RAM) is volatile memory and Read Only Memory (ROM) is non-volatile memory.
Memory is primarily of three types
✓Cache Memory
✓Primary Memory/Main Memory
✓Secondary Memory
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 CACHE MEMORY
Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory which can speed up
CPU It acts as a buffer between the CPU and main memory. It is used to hold
those parts of data and program which are most frequently used by CPU. The
parts of data and programs are transferred from disk to cache memory by
operating system, from where CPU can access them.
Advantages
✓Cache memory is faster than main memory.
✓It consumes less access time as compared to main memory.
✓It stores the program that can be executed within a short period of time.
✓It stores data for temporary use.
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 CONT.
Disadvantages
✓Cache memory has limited capacity.
✓It is very expensive.
Elements of Cache Design
✓small enough that overall average cost/bit is close to that of main memory
alone
✓ large enough so that overall average access time is close to that of cache
alone
✓large caches tend to be slightly slower than small ones
✓available chip and board area is a limitation
✓studies indicate that 1K-512K words is optimum cache size
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 PRIMARY MEMORY (MAIN MEMORY)
✓Primary memory holds only those data and instructions on which computer is
currently working. It has limited capacity and data is lost when power is
switched off. It is generally made up of semiconductor device. These
memories are not as fast as registers. The data and instruction required to be
processed reside in main memory. It is divided into two subcategories RAM
and ROM.

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 CHARACTERISTICS OF MAIN MEMORY
✓These are semiconductor memories
✓It is known as main memory.
✓Usually volatile memory.
✓Data is lost in case power is switched off.
✓It is working memory of the computer.
✓Faster than secondary memories.
✓A computer cannot run without primary memory.

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 SECONDARY MEMORY
This type of memory is also known as external memory or non-volatile. It is slower
than main memory. These are used for storing data/Information permanently. CPU
directly does not access these memories instead they are accessed via input-output
routines. Contents of secondary memories are first transferred to main memory, and
then CPU can access it. For example : disk, CD-ROM, DVD etc.
Characteristic of Secondary Memory
✓These are magnetic and optical memories
✓It is known as backup memory.
✓It is non-volatile memory.
✓Data is permanently stored even if power is switched off.
✓It is used for storage of data in a computer.
✓Computer may run without secondary memory.
✓Slower than primary memories COMPILED BY ABEL H. [email protected] 8
 RAM VS ROM
1. Random Access Memory (RAM)
It is also called as read write memory or the main memory or the primary memory. The
programs and data that the CPU requires during execution of a program are stored
in this memory. It is a volatile memory as the data loses when the power is turned off.
RAM is further classified into two types- SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) and
DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory).
Dynamic RAM (DRAM) is the type of memory chip used for most of the main memory
in a modern PC. The main advantages of DRAM are that it is very dense, meaning
you can pack a lot of bits into a very small chip, and it is inexpensive, which makes
purchasing large amounts of memory affordable.

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 DRAM
The memory cells in a DRAM chip are tiny capacitors that retain a charge to
indicate a bit. The problem with DRAM is that it is dynamic. that is, its contents
can be changed. With every keystroke or every mouse swipe, the contents of
RAM change. And the entire contents of RAM can be wiped out by a system
crash. Also, because of the design, it must be constantly refreshed; otherwise,
the electrical charges in the individual memory capacitors will drain and the
data will be lost. Refresh occurs when the system memory controller takes a
tiny break and accesses all the rows of data in the memory chips. Most
systems have a memory controller (normally built into the North Bridge portion
of the motherboard chipset or located within the CPU in the case of the AMD
Athlon 64 and Opteron processors), which is set for an industry-standard
refresh time of 15ms (milliseconds). This means that every 15ms, all the rows in
the memory are automatically read to refresh the data.
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 CONT. (DRAM)
Refreshing the memory unfortunately takes processor time away from other
tasks because each refresh cycle takes several CPU cycles to complete. In older
systems, the refresh cycling could take up to 10% or more of the total CPU
time, but with modern systems running in the multi-gigahertz range, refresh
overhead is now on the order of a fraction of a percent or less of the total
CPU time. Some systems allow you to alter the refresh timing parameters via
the CMOS Setup. The time between refresh cycles is known as tREF and is
expressed not in milliseconds, but in clock cycles.
It’s important to be aware that increasing the time between refresh cycles
(tREF) to speed up your system can allow some of the memory cells to begin
draining prematurely, which can cause random soft memory errors to appear.
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 CONT. (DRAM)
A soft error is a data error that is not caused by a defective chip. To avoid
soft errors, it is usually safer to stick with the recommended or default refresh
timing. Because refresh consumes less than 1% of modern system overall
bandwidth, altering the refresh rate has little effect on performance. It is
almost always best to use default or automatic settings for any memory
timings in the BIOS Setup. Many modern systems don’t allow changes to
memory timings and are permanently set to automatic settings. On an
automatic setting, the motherboard reads the timing parameters out of the
serial presence detect (SPD) ROM found on the memory module and sets the
cycling speeds to match. DRAMs use only one transistor and capacitor pair
per bit, which makes them very dense, offering more memory capacity per
chip than other types of memory. DRAM chips are currently being prepared
for production with densities up to 2Gb. COMPILED BY ABEL H. [email protected] 12
 CONT. (DRAM)
This means that DRAM chips are available with over one billion transistors!
Compare this to a Core 2 Duo, which has 291 million transistors, and it makes
the processor look wimpy by comparison. The difference is that in a memory
chip, the transistors and capacitors are all consistently arranged in a (normally
square) grid of simple repetitive structures, unlike the processor, which is a
much more complex circuit of different structures and elements interconnected
in a highly irregular fashion.

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 SRAM
Another distinctly different type of memory exists that is significantly faster than most
types of DRAM. SRAM stands for static RAM, which is so named because it does not
need the periodic refresh rates like DRAM. Because of how SRAMs are designed, not
only are refresh rates unnecessary, but SRAM is much faster than DRAM and much more
capable of keeping pace with modern processors.
Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) is a method of implementing memory that uses
roughly the same technique as using latches or flip-flops; for specific use in our memory
design, SRAM cells can be more efficient than a general-purpose latch or flip-flop.
SRAM memory is available in access times of 2ns or less, so it can keep pace with
processors running 500MHz or faster. This is because of the SRAM design, which calls
for a cluster of six transistors for each bit of storage. The use of transistors but no
capacitors means that refresh rates are not necessary because there are no capacitors
to lose their charges over time. As long as there is power, SRAM remembers what is
stored.
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RAM

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 RAM VS ROM(CONT.)
2. Read only Memory (ROM)
Read-only memory, or ROM, is a type of memory that can permanently or semi
permanently store data. It is called read-only because it is either impossible or
difficult to write to. ROM also is often referred to as nonvolatile memory because
any data stored in ROM remains there, even if the power is turned off. As such, ROM
is an ideal place to put the PC’s startup instructions—that is, the software that boots
the system.
Note that ROM and RAM are not opposites, as some people seem to believe. Both
are simply types of memory. In fact, ROM could be classified as technically a subset
of the system’s RAM. In other words, a portion of the system’s random access memory
address space is mapped into one or more ROM chips. This is necessary to contain
the software that enables the PC to boot up; otherwise, the processor would have no
program in memory to execute when it was powered on.
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 CONT. (ROM)
The main ROM BIOS is contained in a ROM chip on the motherboard, but
there are also adapter cards with ROMs on them as well. ROMs on
adapter cards contain auxiliary BIOS routines and drivers needed by the
particular card, especially for those cards that must be active early in the
boot process, such as video cards. Cards that don’t need drivers active at
boot time typically don’t have a ROM because those drivers can be
loaded from the hard disk later in the boot process.

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 PROM,EPROM,EEPROM
PROM - Programmable Read Only Memory
✓ writing process is performed electrically
✓ may be written after chip fabrication
✓ writing uses different electronics than normal memory writes
✓ no room for error
✓attractive for smaller production runs
EPROM - Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
✓read and written electrically, as with PROM
✓before a write, all cells must be erased by exposure to UV radiation (erasure
✓takes about 20 minutes)
❑writing uses different electronics than normal memory writes
❑errors can be corrected by erasing and starting over
✓more expensive than PROM COMPILED BY ABEL H. [email protected] 18
 CONT.
EEPROM - Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
✓byte-level writing - any part(s) of the memory can be written at any time
✓updateable in place - writing uses ordinary bus control, address, and data lines
✓writing takes much longer than reading
✓ more expensive (per bit) and less dense than EPROM
Flash Memory
✓uses electrical erasing technology
✓allows individual blocks to be erased, but not byte-level erasure, and modern
✓flash memory is updateable in place (some may function more like I/O modules)
✓much faster erasure than EPROM
✓same density as EPROM
✓sometimes refers to other devices, such as battery-backed RAM and tiny hard-disk drives which
behave like flash memory for all intents and purposes COMPILED BY ABEL H. [email protected] 19
 MEMORY HIERARCH

Register
Cache
Speed
Main Memory
Cost
Electronic Disk
Magnetic Disk
Optical Disk
Magnetic Tape
Storage Device Hierarchy
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