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What is Base Addressing and Limit Addressing?
When it comes to computer memory management, two important concepts that often come up are base addressing and limit addressing. These techniques play a vital role in determining the location and size of memory areas that programs can access. Let’s dive into what base addressing and limit addressing entail.
Base Addressing
Base addressing, also known as relocation, refers to the method of relocating a program’s memory address to a different base or starting point. In simple terms, it involves adjusting the memory addresses used by a program by adding a fixed value to them.
Why is this necessary? Well, when a program is loaded into memory, it needs to be placed at a specific location. However, that specific location might not always be available due to memory fragmentation or other limitations. Base addressing solves this problem by allowing the program to be loaded at any available location by applying a base address offset.
For example, let’s say a program is originally designed to load at memory address 1000, but that location is not available. With base addressing, the program can be loaded at address 2000 by adding a base address offset of 1000. This way, the program can function correctly as if it were loaded at the intended address.
Base addressing is a crucial component of memory management, as it allows programs to be loaded at different locations, even if the exact starting address is unavailable.
Limit Addressing
Limit addressing, also referred to as memory protection, complements base addressing by defining the size or limit of memory that a program can access. It ensures that a program does not exceed its allocated memory bounds and helps prevent unauthorized access or accidental overwrites.
By setting a limit address, the system can mark the end of the memory region allocated to a particular program. When the program tries to access memory beyond its limit, an exception is raised, triggering an error or termination of the program.
Limit addressing is essential for safeguarding the stability and security of a computer system. It prevents critical system data or other program data from being overwritten, thereby minimizing the risk of crashes or security breaches.
Conclusion
In summary, base addressing and limit addressing are crucial concepts in computer memory management. Base addressing allows programs to load at different memory locations by applying a base address offset, while limit addressing ensures that programs do not go beyond their allocated memory bounds. Together, these techniques contribute to the efficient and secure utilization of computer memory resources.
Remember, understanding memory management is fundamental to grasp the inner workings of computer systems and their optimized performance.
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