Class Notes: Memory Management – Paging
and Segmentation
🔶 Introduction to Memory Management
Memory management is a core function of an operating system. It handles the allocation and
deallocation of memory to processes during their execution, ensuring efficiency, security, and
system stability.
Key Objectives:
Maximize CPU and memory utilization
Ensure process isolation and protection
Provide mechanisms for memory sharing
Enable efficient swapping and multitasking
🔷 Contiguous vs Non-Contiguous Allocation
1. Contiguous Allocation
Each process is allocated one continuous block of memory.
Simple to implement.
Leads to fragmentation:
o External Fragmentation: Free memory is divided into small holes.
o Internal Fragmentation: Fixed-sized memory blocks may have unused space.
2. Non-Contiguous Allocation
Process memory is divided and placed in non-adjacent memory blocks.
Uses techniques like Paging and Segmentation.
Reduces fragmentation and allows better memory utilization.
🔶 Paging
📌 Definition:
Paging is a memory management scheme that eliminates the need for contiguous allocation of
physical memory. It breaks physical memory into fixed-size blocks called frames and logical
memory into blocks of the same size called pages.
🧠 Key Concepts:
Page: Fixed-size portion of a process’s memory.
Frame: Fixed-size block of physical memory.
Page Table: Maps pages to frames.
Page Number (p) and Offset (d): Address is split into these two parts.
📋 Address Translation:
1. Logical address is generated by the CPU.
2. Logical address = (Page number p, Offset d)
3. Page table is used to find the frame number corresponding to page p.
4. Physical address = (Frame number, Offset)
✅ Advantages:
Eliminates external fragmentation.
Easy to manage with simple data structures (page tables).
❌ Disadvantages:
Page table overhead (especially for large address spaces).
Internal fragmentation (last page might not be fully used).
Additional memory access time due to table lookup.
🔷 Example of Paging:
Assume:
Page size = 4 KB (2^12 bytes)
Logical address = 16-bit (so 64 KB address space)
Logical address = 14-bit page number + 2-bit offset
Logical Address (Binary) Page Number Offset
0001 0010 1100 1011 0001001011 001011
🔶 Segmentation
📌 Definition:
Segmentation divides a process’s memory into logical segments such as:
Code segment
Stack
Heap
Data segment
Each segment is treated as a separate unit with its own base and limit.
🧠 Key Concepts:
Logical address = (Segment number, Offset)
Segment Table:
o Base: Starting address of the segment in physical memory
o Limit: Length of the segment
📋 Address Translation:
1. CPU generates a logical address (Segment number s, Offset d).
2. OS checks segment table:
o Is d < limit? If not, segmentation fault.
o Physical address = Base + Offset
✅ Advantages:
Reflects logical division of programs.
Allows easier sharing and protection (each segment can have access rights).
No internal fragmentation.
❌ Disadvantages:
External fragmentation.
More complex memory management.
🔄 Paging vs Segmentation – Comparison Table
Feature Paging Segmentation
Division Basis Fixed-size pages Logical segments (code, stack, etc.)
Feature Paging Segmentation
Fragmentation Type Internal External
Address Format Page number + Offset Segment number + Offset
Ease of Sharing Difficult Easy (each segment can be shared)
Protection Per-page basis Per-segment basis
Logical View Unstructured Structured (programmer-defined)
🔷 Combined Paging and Segmentation
Some systems (like Intel x86) use both techniques together:
Segmentation first divides memory logically.
Each segment is paged internally.
This allows:
Logical separation of code/data/stack
Efficient memory use through paging
Fine-grained protection and sharing
📌 Summary Points
Memory management ensures effective and safe use of RAM.
Paging divides memory into fixed-size blocks, avoids external fragmentation.
Segmentation divides memory logically, supports easier protection and sharing.
Paging is efficient but abstract; segmentation is logical but less space-efficient.
Modern systems often combine both for balance.
📝 Common Questions
Q1: Why is paging used despite internal fragmentation?
Because it eliminates external fragmentation and simplifies memory allocation.
Q2: Can a program be larger than the physical memory?
Yes, using virtual memory and paging, only active pages need to be loaded.
Q3: What is a page fault?
Occurs when a page is not in memory. The OS loads it from disk, slowing execution.
