Problem #1

(a) What are the characteristics of an ideal memory?

(b) Explain the concept of locality of reference both with respect to instructions and data.

(c) The following code is written in C, where elements within the same row are stored

contiguously. Assume that both the arrays (A & B) are of same size. In the code identify variables which exhibit temporal locality and variables which exhibit spatial locality. Provide justification for your answer.

for (I=0; I < 3; I++)

for (J=0; J < 2; J++)

A[I][J] = B[J][0] + 5;

(d) State the importance of locality of reference in memory systems.

(e) Explain the concept of a memory hierarchy. Why it is represented as a pyramid?

(f) Compare and contrast in details the different memory technologies (SRAM and DRAM, flash

and Magnetic disk) used in a memory hierarchy.