Section 3 Memory Management Unit (MMU)
Rev. 5.00 May 29, 2006 page 52 of 698
REJ09B0146-0500
Although the functions of the MMU could also be implemented by software alone, the need for
translation to be performed by software each time a process accesses physical memory would
result in poor efficiency. For this reason, a buffer for address translation (translation look-aside
buffer: TLB) is provided in hardware to hold frequently used address translation information. The
TLB can be described as a cache for storing address translation information. Unlike cache
memory, however, if address translation fails, that is, if an exception is generated, switching of
address translation information is normally performed by software. This makes it possible for
memory management to be performed flexibly by software.
The MMU has two methods of mapping from virtual memory to physical memory: a paging
method using fixed-length address translation, and a segment method using variable-length
address translation. With the paging method, the unit of translation is a fixed-size address space
(usually of 1 to 64 kbytes) called a page.
In the following text, this LSI's address space in virtual memory is referred to as virtual address
space, and address space in physical memory as physical memory space.
Process 1
Physical
memory
MMU
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Process 1
Physical
memory
Process 1
Virtual
memory
MMU
Physical
memory
Process 1
Process 2
Process 3
Physical
memory
Process 1
Process 2
Process 3
Virtual
memory
Physical
memory
Figure 3.1 MMU Functions
Summary of Contents for SH7706 Series
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Page 160: ...Section 5 Cache Rev 5 00 May 29 2006 page 112 of 698 REJ09B0146 0500 ...
Page 370: ...Section 11 Watchdog Timer WDT Rev 5 00 May 29 2006 page 322 of 698 REJ09B0146 0500 ...
Page 554: ...Section 17 Pin Function Controller PFC Rev 5 00 May 29 2006 page 506 of 698 REJ09B0146 0500 ...
Page 576: ...Section 18 I O Ports Rev 5 00 May 29 2006 page 528 of 698 REJ09B0146 0500 ...
Page 746: ...Index Rev 5 00 May 29 2006 page 698 of 698 REJ09B0146 0500 ...
Page 749: ...SH7706 Group Hardware Manual ...