Physical and Logical Address Space

Physical Address Space

Physical address space in a system can be defined as the size of the main memory. It is really important to compare the process size with the physical address space. The process size must be less than the physical address space.

Physical Address Space = Size of the Main Memory 

If, physical address space = 64 KB = 2 ^ 6 KB = 2 ^ 6 X 2 ^ 10 Bytes = 2 ^ 16 bytes
 
Let us consider,
 word size = 8 Bytes = 2 ^ 3 Bytes 

Hence,
 Physical address space (in words) = (2 ^ 16) / (2 ^ 3) = 2 ^ 13 Words 

Therefore,
 Physical Address = 13 bits

In General, 

If, Physical Address Space = N Words 

then, Physical Address = log2 N

Logical Address Space

Logical address space can be defined as the size of the process. The size of the process should be less enough so that it can reside in the main memory.

Let's say,

Logical Address Space = 128 MB = (2 ^ 7 X 2 ^ 20) Bytes = 2 ^ 27 Bytes 

Word size = 4 Bytes = 2 ^ 2 Bytes 

Logical Address Space (in words) = (2 ^ 27) / (2 ^ 2) = 2 ^ 25 Words 

Logical Address = 25 Bits 

In general, 

If, logical address space = L words 

Then, Logical Address = Log2L bits

What is a Word?

The Word is the smallest unit of the memory. It is the collection of bytes. Every operating system defines different word sizes after analyzing the n-bit address that is inputted to the decoder and the 2 ^ n memory locations that are produced from the decoder.

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