@c @c COPYRIGHT (c) 1988-1996. @c On-Line Applications Research Corporation (OAR). @c All rights reserved. @c @ifinfo @node Memory Model, Memory Model Introduction, Calling Conventions User-Provided Routines, Top @end ifinfo @chapter Memory Model @ifinfo @menu * Memory Model Introduction:: * Memory Model Flat Memory Model:: @end menu @end ifinfo @ifinfo @node Memory Model Introduction, Memory Model Flat Memory Model, Memory Model, Memory Model @end ifinfo @section Introduction A processor may support any combination of memory models ranging from pure physical addressing to complex demand paged virtual memory systems. RTEMS supports a flat memory model which ranges contiguously over the processor's allowable address space. RTEMS does not support segmentation or virtual memory of any kind. The appropriate memory model for RTEMS provided by the targeted processor and related characteristics of that model are described in this chapter. @ifinfo @node Memory Model Flat Memory Model, Interrupt Processing, Memory Model Introduction, Memory Model @end ifinfo @section Flat Memory Model The SPARC architecture supports a flat 32-bit address space with addresses ranging from 0x00000000 to 0xFFFFFFFF (4 gigabytes). Each address is represented by a 32-bit value and is byte addressable. The address may be used to reference a single byte, half-word (2-bytes), word (4 bytes), or doubleword (8 bytes). Memory accesses within this address space are performed in big endian fashion by the SPARC. Memory accesses which are not properly aligned generate a "memory address not aligned" trap (type number 7). The following table lists the alignment requirements for a variety of data accesses: @ifset use-ascii @example @group +--------------+-----------------------+ | Data Type | Alignment Requirement | +--------------+-----------------------+ | byte | 1 | | half-word | 2 | | word | 4 | | doubleword | 8 | +--------------+-----------------------+ @end group @end example @end ifset @ifset use-tex @sp 1 @tex \centerline{\vbox{\offinterlineskip\halign{ \vrule\strut#& \hbox to 1.75in{\enskip\hfil#\hfil}& \vrule#& \hbox to 1.75in{\enskip\hfil#\hfil}& \vrule#\cr \noalign{\hrule} &\bf Data Type &&\bf Alignment Requirement&\cr\noalign{\hrule} &byte&&1&\cr\noalign{\hrule} &half-word&&2&\cr\noalign{\hrule} &word&&4&\cr\noalign{\hrule} &doubleword&&8&\cr\noalign{\hrule} }}\hfil} @end tex @end ifset @ifset use-html @html
Data Type Alignment Requirement
byte 1
half-word 2
word 4
doubleword 8
@end html @end ifset Doubleword load and store operations must use a pair of registers as their source or destination. This pair of registers must be an adjacent pair of registers with the first of the pair being even numbered. For example, a valid destination for a doubleword load might be input registers 0 and 1 (i0 and i1). The pair i1 and i2 would be invalid. [NOTE: Some assemblers for the SPARC do not generate an error if an odd numbered register is specified as the beginning register of the pair. In this case, the assembler assumes that what the programmer meant was to use the even-odd pair which ends at the specified register. This may or may not have been a correct assumption.] RTEMS does not support any SPARC Memory Management Units, therefore, virtual memory or segmentation systems involving the SPARC are not supported.