Week 2 - Memory Hierarchy

Question 1

Why can’t registers by used for long term storage?

Answer 1

Very expensive and volatile

Question 2

Why do computers need a memory hierarchy?

Answer 2

Large storage devices are slow to access, storage devices that are quick to access are far too expensive to be used to store large amounts of data.

Question 3

What is a memory hierarchy?

Answer 3

Having multiple different memory devices, where the device with the quickest read/write times is the smallest, and as devices get slower their capacity gets larger.

Question 4

Locality of reference

Answer 4

The tendency of a processor to access the same set of memory locations repetitively over a short period of time.

Question 5

Temporal locality

Answer 5

The reuse of specific data and/or resources within a relatively small time duration.

Question 6

Spatial locality

Answer 6

The use of data elements within relatively close storage locations