IT2106
Memory Management o External fragmentation – This occurs when the allotted memory
Memory Management Requirements
Memory management is the functionality of an operating system (OS) that
manages the primary memory, which includes the movement of processes
back and forth between the main and the secondary memory during
execution. Memory management tracks every memory location, whether it is
allocated or free, and checks the amount of memory to be allocated for each
process. It also facilitates the process allocation and correspondingly updates
the memory status (Tutorialspoint, n.d.).
Types of addresses used in a program before and after memory allocation
(Tutorialspoint, n.d.):
 Symbolic addresses – These are the addresses used in a source code.
The variable names, constants, and instruction labels are the basic
elements of a symbolic address space.
 Relative addresses – These are the addresses at the time of
compilation. A compiler converts symbolic addresses into relative
addresses.
 Physical addresses – These addresses are generated by the loader
when a program is loaded into the main memory.
The following are the commonly used terms in memory management:
 Frame – This pertains to a fixed-length block of main memory.
 Page – This refers to a fixed-length block of data that resides in the
secondary memory. A page of data may temporarily be copied into a
frame in the main memory.
 Segment – A variable-length block of data that resides in the secondary
memory. An entire segment may temporarily be copied into an available
region of the main memory, or the segment may be divided into pages,
which can be individually copied into the main memory (Stallings, 2018).
 Swapping – It is a mechanism in which a process can be swapped
temporarily out of the main memory to the secondary memory in order to
make memory space available for other processes. It is also known as
memory compaction.
 Fragmentation – This occurs due to the continuous loading and removal
of processes in the memory, wherein free memory spaces are broken
down into smaller fragments. This happens when processes cannot be
allocated to memory blocks because of their small size and memory
blocks remains unused (Tutorialspoint, n.d.).
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blocks are of varying sizes. This builds up due to the continuous
removal of processes in the main memory.
o Internal fragmentation – This occurs when the allotted memory
blocks are of fixed size, and specific processes need more space or
less space than the size of the allotted memory block (Parahar,
2019)
The following are the requirements that memory management intends to
satisfy (Stallings, 2018):
 Relocation: It is not possible for a programmer to know in advance
which programs will reside in the main memory at the exact time of the
program execution. Hence, the possibility that the program may be
moved within the main memory due to swapping should always be
considered. In addition, swapping active processes in and out of the
main memory to maximize processor utilization is also highly observed.
 Protection: Each process should be protected against unwanted
interference by other processes, whether accidental or intentional. Thus,
programs in other processes should not be able to reference memory
locations in a process, for reading or writing purposes, without
permission. A user process cannot access any portion of the operating
system, neither program nor data. Usually, a program in one process
cannot branch to an instruction in another process, and without special
arrangement, a program in one process cannot access the data area of
another process.
 Sharing: Any protection mechanism must have the flexibility to allow
several processes to access the same portion of the main memory. If a
number of processes are executing the same program, it is
advantageous to allow each process to access the same copy of the
program rather than have its own separate copy. In most cases,
processes that are cooperating on some task may need to share access
to the same data structure.
 Logical organization: Most programs are organized into modules, some
of which are unmodified, read-only or execute-only, and some of which
contain data that are modifiable. It would be a great advantage if the
operating system and computer hardware could effectively manage user
programs and data in modules.
 Physical organization: The task of moving and organizing information
flow between the main and the secondary memory should be a system
responsibility. This task is the essence of memory management.
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Computer memory is organized into at least two (2) levels, which are as
follows:

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o Main memory – This is a volatile memory that provides fast access
at a relatively high cost. The main memory technically holds
programs and data that are currently in use.
o Secondary memory – This is usually a non-volatile memory at a
cheaper cost with slower access. A secondary memory of large
capacity is a good storage of programs and data for a longer term.
Memory Partitioning Techniques
Fixed Partitioning. The main memory is divided into a number of static
partitions at system generation time, wherein a process may be loaded into a
partition of equal or greater size. Nowadays, the use of fixed partitioning is
uncommon in the industry (Stallings, 2018).
 It is simple to implement and produces only a minimal operating system
overhead.
 There is a high chance of inefficient use of memory due to internal
fragmentation.
 The maximum number of active processes that can be catered is fixed.
Dynamic Partitioning. The partitions are created dynamically, wherein each
process is loaded into a partition of exactly the same size as the process.
 This technique has no internal fragmentation, which results in a more
efficient use of the main memory.
 Inefficient use of the processor can transpire due to the need for memory
compression to counter external fragmentation.
Below are the three (3) possible placement algorithms that can be
considered in implementing dynamic partitioning:
1. Best-fit – This chooses the block that is closest to the requested size.
2. First-fit – This scans the memory from the beginning and chooses
the first available block that is large enough to cater to the process.
3. Next-fit – This scans the memory from the location of the last
placement and chooses the next available block that is large enough
to cater to the process.
Simple Paging. The memory is divided into a number of equally sized
frames, while each process is divided into a number of equally sized pages
of the same length as the frames. Then, a process is loaded by adding all of
its pages into the available frames (Stallings, 2018).
 It plays an important role in implementing virtual memory.
 This technique reduces external fragmentation.
 This technique may cause a small amount of internal fragmentation.
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Simple Segmentation. Each process is divided into a number of segments,
wherein a process is loaded by adding all of its segments into dynamic
partitions.
 There is no internal fragmentation in using this technique, resulting to an
improved memory utilization and reduced overhead compared to
dynamic partitioning.
 External fragmentation is a drawback of this technique.
Virtual Memory
Virtual memory is an abstraction of the main memory, providing processes
and the kernel with their own, almost infinite, private view of the main
memory. Virtual memory is made possible through the support from both the
processor and operating system. Below are some characteristics of a virtual
memory (Gregg, 2021):
 It supports multitasking, allowing processes and the kernel to operate on
their own private address space without worrying about contention.
 It supports oversubscription of the main memory, allowing the operating
system to transparently map virtual memory between the main and the
secondary memory, as needed.
 It is not a real memory and most operating systems map virtual memory
to real memory only on demand (when the memory is first populated or
written).
Virtual Memory Paging. This partitioning method is similar to simple paging,
but does not necessarily load all of the pages of the process. This has no
external fragmentation and encompass large virtual address space, that may
lead to a higher degree of multiprogramming.
Virtual Memory Segmentation. This partitioning method is similar to simple
segmentation, but does not necessarily load all the segments of a process.
This has no internal fragmentation and encompass a large virtual address
space, that may also lead to a higher degree of multiprogramming.
References:
Gregg, B. (2021). System performance: Enterprise and Cloud (2nd ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
Silberschatz, A., Galvin, P. & Gagne, G. (2018). Operating systems concepts (10th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Stallings, W. (2018). Operating systems: Internal and design principles (9 th ed.). Pearson Education Limited
Tutorialspoint. (n.d.). Operating System – Memory Management. Retrieved on October 25, 2021 from
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/operating_system/os_memory_management.htm
Parahar, M. (2019, November 28). Difference between internal fragmentation and external fragmentation. Retrieved on October 26, 2021
from https://www.tutorialspoint.com/difference-between-internal-fragmentation-and-external-fragmentation
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