Memory Devices (Part-1)

MD. AZMAIN YAKIN SRIZON

LECTURER, DEPT. OF CSE, RUET

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Modules
A. Module-1: Introduction
B. Module-2: Memory Terminology
C. Module-3: General Memory Operations
D. Module-4: CPU-Memory Connections

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 Module-1

Introduction

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Introduction
 Flip-flops, also called as registers, are commonly used types of memory devices and systems
 Digital data can also be stored as charges on capacitors
 The principle is to obtain high density storage at low power-requirement levels

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Main Memory
 Semiconductor memories are used as the main memory of a computer
 It’s used where fast operation is important
 It’s also called working memory
 It is in constant communication with the central processing unit (CPU) as a program of
instructions is being executed.
 It works with a program and any data used by the program
 RAM and ROM make up main memory.

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Auxiliary Memory
 Another form of storage in a computer is performed by auxiliary memory
 It is also called mass storage – has the capacity to store massive amounts of data without the
need for electrical power
 Auxiliary memory operates at a much slower speed than main memory
 It stores programs and data that are not currently being used by the CPU
 This information is transferred to the main memory when the computer needs it
 Common auxiliary memory devices are magnetic disk and compact disk (CD)

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Computer Memories

Fig. 1.1: A computer system normally uses highspeed main memory and slower external auxiliary memory.

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 Module-2

Memory Terminology

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Memory Cell
 A device or an electrical circuit used to store a single bit (0 or 1)
 Examples of memory cells include a flip-flop, a charged capacitor, and a single spot on
magnetic tape or disk

Fig. 2.1: Memory Cell Representation

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 Memory Word
 A group of bits (cells) in a memory that represents instructions or data of some type.
 For example, a register consisting of eight FFs can be considered to be a memory that is
storing an eight-bit word.
 Word sizes in modern computers typically range from 8 to 64 bits, depending on the size of
the computer.

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0

Fig. 2.2: Memory Word Representation for 8 bits computer

1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0

Fig. 2.3: Memory Word Representation for 16 bits computer

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Byte
 A byte always consists of eight bits
 Word sizes can be expressed in bytes as well as in bits
 For example, a word size of eight bits is also a word size of one byte, a word size of 16 bits
is two bytes, and so on

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0

Fig. 2.3: Representation of a byte (8 bits)

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Capacity
 A way of specifying how many bits can be stored in a particular memory device or complete
memory system.
 To illustrate, suppose that we have a memory that can store 4096 20-bit words. This represents
a total capacity of 81,920 bits.
 It is common to use the designation “1K” to represent 1024

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Example 2.1
Question: A certain semiconductor memory chip is specified as . How many words can be stored
on this chip? What is the word size? How many total bits can this chip store?
Solution:
words
Each word is eight bits (one byte). The total number of bits is therefore
bits

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Example 2.2
Question: Which memory stores the most bits: a memory or a memory that stores 1M words at
a word size of 16 bits?
Solution:
bits
bits
The memory stores more bits.

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Density
 Another term for capacity.
 When we say that one memory device has a greater density than another, we mean that it can
store more bits in the same amount of space.

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Address
 A number that identifies the location of a word in memory.
 Each word stored in a memory device or system has a unique
address.
 Addresses always exist in a digital system as a binary number,
although octal, hexadecimal, and decimal numbers are often used
to represent the address for convenience.

Fig 2.4: Each word location has a

specific binary address.

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Read Operation
 The operation whereby the binary word stored in a specific memory location (address) is
sensed and then transferred to another device.
 The read operation is often called a fetch operation because a word is being fetched from
memory.

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Write Operation
 The operation whereby a new word is placed into a particular memory location.
 It is also referred to as a store operation.
 Whenever a new word is written into a memory location, it replaces the word that was
previously stored there.

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Access Time
 A measure of a memory device’s operating speed.
 It is the amount of time required to perform a read operation.
 More specifically, it is the time between the memory receiving a new address input and the
data becoming available at the memory output.
 The symbol is used for access time.

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Volatile and Non-volatile Memories
 Any type of memory that requires the application of electrical power in order to store
information.
 If the electrical power is removed, all information stored in the memory will be lost.
 Many semiconductor memories are volatile, while all magnetic memories are nonvolatile,
which means that they can store information without electrical power.

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Random-Access Memory (RAM)
 Memory in which the actual physical location of a memory word has no effect on how long it
takes to read from or write into that location.
 In other words, the access time is the same for any address in memory.
 Most semiconductor memories are RAMs.

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Sequential-Access Memory (SAM)
 A type of memory in which the access time is not constant but varies depending on the
address location.
 A particular stored word is found by sequencing through all address locations until the
desired address is reached.
 This produces access times that are much longer than those of random-access memories.
 An example of a sequential-access memory device is a magnetic tape backup.

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Read/Write Memory (RWM)
 Any memory that can be read from or written into with equal ease.
 Has both functionality of reading and writing.

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Read-Only Memory (ROM)
 A broad class of semiconductor memories designed for applications where the ratio of read
operations to write operations is very high.
 Technically, a ROM can be written into (programmed) only once, and this operation is
normally performed at the factory.
 Thereafter, information can only be read from the memory.
 Other types of ROM are actually read-mostly memories (RMM), which can be written into
more than once; but the write operation is more complicated than the read operation, and it is not
performed very often.
 All ROM is nonvolatile and will store data when electrical power is removed.

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Static Memory Devices
 Semiconductor memory devices in which the stored data will remain permanently stored as
long as power is applied,
 without the need for periodically rewriting the data into memory.

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Dynamic Memory Devices
 Semiconductor memory devices in which the stored data will not remain permanently stored,
even with power applied, unless the data are periodically rewritten into memory.
 The latter operation is called a refresh operation.

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Review Questions
 Define the following terms
(a) Memory cell, (b) Memory word, (c) Address, (d) Byte, (e) Access time
 A certain memory has a capacity of . How many bits are in each word? How many words are
being stored? How many memory cells does this memory contain?
 Explain the difference between the read (fetch) and write (store) operations.
 True or false: A volatile memory will lose its stored data when electrical power is interrupted.
 Explain the difference between SAM and RAM.
 Explain the difference between RWM and ROM.
 True or false: A dynamic memory will hold its data as long as electrical power is applied.

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 Module-3

General Memory Operations

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Sample Memory Illustration

Fig 3.1: (a) Diagram of a Memory, (b) virtual arrangement of memory cells into 32 four-bit words.

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Simplified Reading-Writing Operations

Fig 3.2: Simplified Reading-Writing Operations

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Example 3.1
Question: A certain memory has a capacity of
(a) How many data input and data output lines does it have?
(b) How many address lines does it have?
(c) What is its capacity in bytes?
Solution:
(a) Eight of each because the word size is eight.
(b) The memory stores words. Thus, there are 4096 memory addresses. Because , it requires a
12-bit address code to specify one of 4096 addresses.
(c) A byte is eight bits. This memory has a capacity of 4096 bytes.

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Review Questions
 How many address inputs, data inputs, and data outputs are required for a memory?
 What is the function of the input?
 What is the function of the MEMORY ENABLE input?

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 Module-4

CPU-Memory Connections

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Bus Connections

Fig 4.1: Three groups of lines (buses) connect the main memory ICs to the CPU.

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Different Buses
 Address Bus: This unidirectional bus carries the binary address outputs from the CPU to the
memory ICs to select one memory location.
 Data Bus: This bidirectional bus carries data between the CPU and the memory ICs.
 Control Bus: This bus carries control signals (such as the signal Read or Write signal) from the
CPU to the memory ICs.

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Review Questions
 Name the three groups of lines that connect the CPU and the internal memory.
 Outline the steps that take place when the CPU reads from memory.
 Outline the steps that occur when the CPU writes to memory.

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References
Digital Systems by Tocci, Widmer, Moss
Chapter 12: Memory Devices (12.1-12.3)
Pages: 785-794

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 Thank You

Next Topics
Read-Only Memory

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