Different types of ROM

* ROM This is your normal ROM that is found in most PC's. It is designed similar to a processor, and is made out of silicon. Data can be read from it but you cannot write data on it. This is the permanent memory of the system. It is used to perform a single function. * PROM PROM is programmable ROM. Sometimes we may want to write some data on the ROM. In such cases we use PROM. Data can be written on it using special equipment. It is important to note that data can be written on PROM only once but it cannot be removed from the PROM. * EPROM EPROM is programmable ROM from which data can be programmed and erased. Note that programming and erasing is not limited to just one time. It is done using ultra violet light. The downside to this that i requires additional hardware to program it. EPROM is now used in most bios systems. This provides flexibility for the programmer. * EEPROM EEPROM is the next generation of ROM. It takes EPROM to the next level. As compared to EPROM, EEPROM can be programmed using software technology. The user himself can program the ROM using system software. The main advantage of this is you don't need special hardware to program it. This saves the programmer a lot of money. This has become the dominating force in the BIOS ROM market. Majority of the motherboards these days come with EEPROM.

Different types of RAM

RAM is considered random access because you can access any memory cell directly if you know the row and column that intersect at that cell. RAM is made in electronic chips made of so called semiconductor material, just like processors and many other types of chips. In RAM, transistors make up the individual storage cells which can each remember an amount of data, for example, 1 or 4 bits as long as the PC is switched on. Physically, RAM consists of small electronic chips which are mounted in modules (small printed circuit boards). The modules are installed in the PCs motherboard using sockets there are typically 2, 3 or 4 of these. There are two basic types of RAM : (i) Dynamic Ram (ii) Static RAM

Dynamic RAM : loses its stored information in a very short time (for milli sec.) even when power supply is on. D-RAMs are cheaper & lower. Similar to a microprocessor chip is an Integrated Circuit (IC) made of millions of transistors and capacitors.

In the most common form of computer memory, Dynamic Memory Cell, represents a single bit of data. The capacitor holds the bit of information a 0 or a 1. The transistor acts as a switch that lets the control circuitry on the memory chip read the capacitor or change its state. A capacitor is like a small bucket that is able to store electrons. To store a 1 in the memory cell, the bucket is filled with electrons.

To store a 0, it is emptied. The problem with the capacitors bucket is that it has a leak. In a matter of a few milliseconds a full bucket becomes empty. Therefore, for dynamic memory to work, either the CPU or the Memory Controller has to come along and recharge all of the capacitors holding it before they discharge. To do this, the memory controller reads the memory and then writes it right back. This refresh operation happens automatically thousands of times per second.

This refresh operation is where dynamic RAM gets its name. Dynamic RAM has to be dynamically refreshed all of the time or it forgets what it is holding. The downside of all of this refreshing is that it takes time and slows down the memory.

Static RAM uses a completely different technology. S-RAM retains stored information only as long as the power supply is on. Static RAMs are costlier and consume more power. They have higher speed than D-RAMs. They store information in Hip-Hope.

In static RAM, a form of flipflop holds each bit of memory. A flip-flop for a memory cell takes four or six transistors along with some wiring, but never has to be refreshed. This makes static RAM significantly faster than dynamic RAM. However, because it has more parts, a static memory cell takes up a lot more space on a chip than a dynamic memory cell. Therefore, you get less memory per chip, and that makes static RAM a lot more expensive. Static RAM is fast and expensive, and dynamic RAM is less expensive and slower. Static RAM is used to create the CPUs speedsensitive cache, while dynamic RAM forms the larger system RAM space.

Some other RAMS are :

(a) EDO (Extended Data Output) RAM : In an EDO RAMs, any memory location can be accessed. Stores 256 bytes of data information into latches. The latches hold next 256 bytes of information so that in most programs, which are sequentially executed, the data are available without wait states.

(b) SDRAM (Synchronous DRAMS), SGRAMs (Synchronous Graphic RAMs) These RAM chips use the same clock rate as CPUuses. They transfer data when the CPU expects them to be ready.

(c) DDR-SDRAM (Double Data Rate SDRAM) : This RAM transfers data on both edges of the clock. Therefore the transfer rate of the data becomes doubles.

ROM : Read only memory: Its non volatile memory, ie, the information stored in it, is not lost even if the power supply goes off. Its used for the permanent storage of information. It also posses random access property. Information can not be written into a ROM by the users/programmers. In other words the contents of ROMs are decided by the manufactures.
What is cache memory

Cache Memory : The Cache Memory is the Memory which is very nearest to the CPU , all the Recent Instructions are Stored into the Cache Memory. The Cache Memory is attached for storing the input which is given by the user and which is necessary for the CPU to Perform a Task. But the Capacity of the Cache Memory is too low in compare to Memory and Hard Disk. Importance of Cache memory The cache memory lies in the path between the processor and the memory. The cache memory therefore, has lesser access time than memory and is faster than the main memory. A cache memory have an access time of 100ns, while the main memory may have an access time of 700ns.

The cache memory is very expensive and hence is limited in capacity. Earlier cache memories were available separately but the microprocessors contain the cache memory on the chip itself.

The need for the cache memory is due to the mismatch between the speeds of the main memory and the CPU. The CPU clock as discussed earlier is very fast, whereas the main memory access time is comparatively slower. Hence, no matter how fast the processor is, the processing speed depends more on the speed of the main memory (the strength of a chain is the strength of its weakest link). It is because of this reason that a cache memory having access time closer to the processor speed is introduced.

The cache memory stores the program (or its part) currently being executed or which may be executed within a short period of time. The cache memory also stores temporary data that the CPU may frequently require for manipulation.

The cache memory works according to various algorithms, which decide what information it has to store. These algorithms work out the probability to decide which data would be most frequently needed. This probability is worked out on the basis of past observations.

It acts as a high speed buffer between CPU and main memory and is used to temporary store very active data and action during processing since the cache memory is faster then main memory, the processing speed is increased by making the data and instructions needed in current processing available in cache. The cache memory is very expensive and hence is limited in capacity.
What is virtual memory?

Virtual memory is a feature of an operating system that enables a process to use a memory (RAM) address space that is independent of other processes running in the same system, and use a space that is larger than the actual amount of RAM present, temporarily relegating some contents from RAM to a disk, with little or no overhead. In a system using virtual memory, the physical memory is divided into equally-sized pages. The memory addressed by a process is also divided into logical pages of the same size. When a process references a memory address, the memory manager fetches from disk the page that includes the referenced address, and places it in a vacant physical page in the RAM. Subsequent references within that logical page are routed to the physical page. When the process references an address from another logical page, it too is fetched into a vacant physical page and becomes the target of subsequent similar references. If the system does not have a free physical page, the memory manager swaps out a logical page into the swap area - usually a paging file on disk (in Windows XP: pagefile.sys), and copies (swaps in) the requested logical page into the now-vacant physical page. The page swapped out may belong to a different process. There are many

strategies for choosing which page is to be swapped out. (One is LRU: the Least Recently Used page is swapped out.) If a page is swapped out and then is referenced, it is swapped back in, from the swap area, at the expense of another page. Virtual memory enables each process to act as if it has the whole memory space to itself, since the addresses that it uses to reference memory are translated by the virtual memory mechanism into different addresses in physical memory. This allows different processes to use the same memory addresses - the memory manager will translate references to the same memory address by two different processes into different physical addresses. One process generally has no way of accessing the memory of another process. A process may use an address space larger than the available physical memory, and each reference to an address will be translated into an existing physical address. The bound on the amount of memory that a process may actually address is the size of the swap area, which may be smaller than the addressable space. (A process can have an address space of 4GB yet actually use only 2GB, and this can run on a machine with a pagefile of 2GB.) The size of the virtual memory on a system is smaller than the sum of the physical RAM and the swap area, since pages that are swapped in are not erased from the swap area, and so take up two pages of the sum of sizes.