Terminology and Operations

Terminology and Operations

Memories are made up of registers. Each register in the memory is one storage location. Each location is identified by an address. The number of storage locations can vary from a few in some memories to hundreds of thousand in others. Each location can accommodate one or more bits. Generally, the total number of bits that a memory can store is its capacity. Most of the types the capacity is specified in terms of bytes (group of eight bits).

Each register consists of storage elements (flip-flops or capacitors in semiconductor memories and magnetic domain in magnetic storage), each of which stores one bit of data. A storage element is called a cell.

The data stored in a memory by a process called writing and are retrieved from the memory by a process called reading. Fig. 6.2.1 illustrates in a very simplified way the concept of write, read, address and storage capacity for a generalized memory.

Review Questions

1. What is address ?

2. What is memory capacity ?