Memory Management

Memory management is a fundamental function of an operating system that controls and coordinates the use of a computer's main memory (RAM). It is responsible for dynamically allocating portions of memory to programs upon request and freeing them for reuse when they are no longer needed, all while keeping track of the status of each memory location. This process ensures that multiple applications can run concurrently without interfering with each other's data or the operating system itself, providing crucial memory protection and enabling efficient multitasking through techniques like virtual memory and paging.

1. Fundamentals of Memory Management
   1. Core Concepts
      1. Definition of Memory Management
      2. Goals of Memory Management
         1. Providing Abstraction
         2. Maximizing Utilization
         3. Ensuring Protection and Isolation
         4. Enabling Sharing
         5. Supporting Dynamic Allocation
      3. Memory Management in Operating Systems
      4. Memory Management in Application Software
   2. The Memory Hierarchy
      1. Overview of Memory Hierarchy
      2. Registers
         1. Role in CPU Operations
         2. Types of Registers
            1. General-Purpose Registers
            2. Special-Purpose Registers
            3. Index Registers
            4. Stack Pointer Registers
      3. Caches
         1. Purpose of Caching
         2. Cache Levels
            1. L1 Cache
               1. Instruction Cache
               2. Data Cache
            2. L2 Cache
            3. L3 Cache
         3. Cache Organization
            1. Direct-Mapped Cache
            2. Set-Associative Cache
            3. Fully Associative Cache
         4. Cache Coherency
            1. Cache Coherency Protocols
            2. Write-Through vs Write-Back
      4. Main Memory (RAM)
         1. Types of RAM
            1. DRAM
               1. SDRAM
               2. DDR SDRAM
            2. SRAM
         2. Memory Controllers
         3. Volatility and Speed Characteristics
      5. Secondary Storage
         1. Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
         2. Solid State Drives (SSD)
         3. Role in Virtual Memory Systems
      6. Trade-offs in Memory Hierarchy
         1. Speed vs Capacity
         2. Cost vs Performance
         3. Access Time Considerations
   3. The Role of the Memory Management Unit (MMU)
      1. Overview of MMU Functionality
      2. Hardware for Address Translation
         1. Address Translation Process
         2. Address Translation Caches
      3. MMU and Memory Protection
         1. Access Control Mechanisms
         2. Privilege Level Enforcement
      4. MMU and Performance Considerations