Logical Memory Organisation

System memory in the PC is broken into

several areas

Conventional Memory

1024KB

Reserved area

User Data and

Program
TSD Program

768KB

640KB

0KB

Video RAM

Command.com
Device Drivers

User Programs
(Conventional
Memory)

DOS
Interrupt Vector

 The first 640kb of system memory is called

conventional memory
This is the area that is available for the use by
the standard DOS program
The bottom 1K area is used to store the
interrupt vector pointer.
Above is DOS itself.Its hard to say exactly how
much space DOS takes,it depends on version
Of DOS
Above DOS loads a special class of programs
called device driver.

 Above the device driver COMMAND.COM is

stored.It accept input from user and
reformulate them in such a manner that the
operating system can understand.
Above the command loads TSR(terminate and
stay resident) programs do the same things as
device drivers.
Above TSR,there is a space for user program
and data.In this user can load the data and
program.

Upper Memory Area

It is the upper 384 KB of 1MB of system
Memory(immediately above the conventional
memory) is called UMA (upper memory area).
It is the very busy place
It is reserved for the use by system devices and
for special uses.

Higher Memory Area

It is the first 64KB of the second megabyte of
system memory.Technically this is the first 6KB
of extended memory,but it can be accessed
when the processor is in real mode.

Extended Memory

4GB

1MB

Extended Memory
Reserved for BIOS
Reserved for display V RAM

640KB
0KB

Conventional Memory

All of the memory above

the first megabyte is called
Extended Memory.
This is all the memory
above the high memory area
until the end of the system
memory.
The memory above the 1MB
is extended memory

Fig:Memory Map with Extended Memory

It is used for program and data when using an operating system running in
protected mode,such as any version of window.

 On 80286 or 80386 SX system,extended

memory limit is 16MB(16 bit addressing).
On a 80386 DX,80486,Pentium or Pentium pro
system,extended memory limit is 4GB(32 bit
addressing).
The processor pentium Iiand newer
processor have a limit of 64KB(36 bit
addressing).
The Microsoft,Lotus developed the extended
memory specification(XMS) to use extended
memory

Expanded Memory
Conventional extended memory
16M/4G

1M

896K

832K
768K

640K

Extended memory

Expanded memory
32M

Expanded memory

Motherboard ROM
BIOS
EMS window

Divided into logical

pages
and
Mapped into EMS
window

Adapter ROM

Video RAM

Conventional
Memory

0K

0K

fig: Conventional extended and expanded memory

 An older standard for accessing memory above 1MB which

called Expanded memory.
It uses a protocol called the Expanded memory
specification or EMS.
EMS was originally created to overcome the 1MB
addressing limitation of the first generation 8086 and
8088 CPU.
Unlike conventional memory or extended memory
,expanded memory is not directly addressable by the
processor.Instead of it ,it can only be accessed through a
small 64k window established in UMA(upper memory
area).
This type of memory generally useful only in the system
that do not have extended memory(advance processor)
available to them.
Expanded memory specification developed by Lotus,Intel
and Microsoft(LIM).This is called LIM specification for
expanded memory.

Cache memory

It is the high speed memory,that store data

temporarily.
It is also called as Intelligent Memory
The processor retrive data faster than from
main memory.
It is made up of Static memory(SRAM).

Levels of Cache

L1(LEVEL 1) (Internal cache)

L2(LEVEL2) (External cache)
L3 cache

L1(Internal cache):

Primary cache
Small in size
High speed
Placed at the right side of processor chip
Typical range of size of L1 cache 8KB to 6KB
Uses high speed SRAM(static RAM) instead of slower and cheaper
DRAM(dynamic RAM).

L2(External cache):
secondary cache
Bigger in size
Memory placed between CPU and main memory
Range 64K to 2MB

L3(Old L2 cache):
L3 cache slowly replaced the L2 cache function
Extra cache built into the motherboards between
CPU and main memory is now being called L3
cache.
Some manufacturer using L3 cache designs
already,but most desktop and notebook
computers do not offer this function yet.

Advantages of cache:
It is the high speed memory
Intelligent Memory
The processor retrive data faster than from main
memory.so improve the performance of system

Disdvantages of cache:
Small in size
Cost is very high

Types of main memory

There are two types of main memory, Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read
Only Memory (ROM)

Random Access Memory (RAM)

holds its data as long as the computer is switched on
All data in RAM is lost when the computer is switched off
Described as being volatile

Called as Main memory or primary memory.

Types of RAM
1.DRAM
2.SRAM
1. Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)
Uses capacitors for holding information.this makes DRAM slower and
cheaper
Contents are constantly refreshed 1000 times per second
Access time 60 70 nanoseconds
Note: a nanosecond is one billionth of a second!
2. Static Random Access Memory (SRAM)

Uses on/off switches for holding information.this makes SRAM faster and
expensive
Access time around 10 nanoseconds
Used for cache memory

Types of Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

FPM
(Fast Page Mode)
Traditional
RAM for
PC,before EDO
was introduced.

Mounted on
SIMM module

EDO
(Extended Data Output)

It is an
improvement in FPM
RAM

Data are faster

ECC
(Error correcting
code)
It is a
special error
correcting
RAM.
Specially
used in
servers

SDRAM
(Synchronous
DRAM)
Replacement of
FPM,
EDO
Speed of SDRAM
100MHZ and133MHZ
All SDRAM for desktop
PCs have 168 pins

DDR(Double data rate SDRAM)

It basically doubles the rate of data transfer of
standard SDRAM
Faster version of SDRAM
All DDR RAM chips have 184 pins
DDR RAM comes in different speed i.e. 100
MHZ,133MHZ,166MHZ,200MHZ

DDR2

Next generation of DDR SDRAM memory

Delivers data at twice speed of DDR.
Mounted on a 240-pin DIMM Modules
DDR2 to operate at data rates of 400 MHZ,533MHZ,
667 MHZ

DDR3
Technology used for high storage of working
data of computer.
DDR3 to operate at data rates of 800
mhz,1066 mhz,1600 mhz and above

BIOS
BIOS(basic input output system) provides the
processor with the information required to
boot the system from a non-volatile storage
unit(HDD,FDD,CD).
BIOS is an electronic set of instruction that the
computer uses to successfully start operating.
Located on a chip inside of the computer and
is designed in a way that protects it from disk
failure.

Main function of BIOS

Main function of BIOS is to give instruction for
the POST i.e.power on self test.
This self test ensures that the computer has all
of the necessary parts and functionalities
needed to successfully start itself,such as use
of memory,keyboard and other parts