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A memory-mapped file is a segment of virtual memory [1] that has been assigned a direct byte-for-byte correlation with some portion of a file or file-like resource. This resource is typically a file that is physically present on disk, but can also be a device, shared memory object, or other resource that an operating system can reference through a file descriptor.
File-backed mapping maps an area of the process's virtual memory to files; that is, reading those areas of memory causes the file to be read. It is the default mapping type. Anonymous mapping maps an area of the process's virtual memory not backed by any file, made available via the MAP_ANONYMOUS/MAP_ANON flags.
Memory-mapped I/O is preferred in IA-32 and x86-64 based architectures because the instructions that perform port-based I/O are limited to one register: EAX, AX, and AL are the only registers that data can be moved into or out of, and either a byte-sized immediate value in the instruction or a value in register DX determines which port is the source or destination port of the transfer.
In computing, memory mapping may refer to: Memory-mapped file , also known as mmap() Memory-mapped I/O , an alternative to port I/O; a communication between CPU and peripheral device using the same instructions, and same bus, as between CPU and memory
In computer science, a memory map is a structure of data (which usually resides in memory itself) that indicates how memory is laid out. The term "memory map" has different meanings in different contexts. It is the fastest and most flexible cache organization that uses an associative memory. The associative memory stores both the address and ...
Bank switching is a technique used in computer design to increase the amount of usable memory beyond the amount directly addressable by the processor [1] instructions. It can be used to configure a system differently at different times; for example, a ROM required to start a system from diskette could be switched out when no longer needed. In ...
The idea behind tmpfs is similar in concept to a RAM disk, in that both provide a file system stored in volatile memory; however, the implementations are different. While tmpfs is implemented at the logical file system layer, a RAM disk is implemented at the physical file system layer. In other words, a RAM disk is a virtual block device with a ...
POSIX also provides the mmap API for mapping files into memory; a mapping can be shared, allowing the file's contents to be used as shared memory. Linux distributions based on the 2.6 kernel and later offer /dev/shm as shared memory in the form of a RAM disk , more specifically as a world-writable directory (a directory in which every user of ...