A technique to increase the amount of usable memory
Not to be confused with Paging.
A hypothetical memory map of bank-switched memory for a processor that can only address 64 KB. This scheme shows 200 KB of memory, of which only 64 KB can be accessed at any time by the processor. The operating system must manage the bank-switching operation to ensure that program execution can continue when part of memory is not accessible to the processor.
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 video game systems, bank switching allowed larger games to be developed for play on existing consoles.
Bank switching originated in minicomputer systems.[2] Many modern microcontrollers and microprocessors use bank switching to manage random-access memory, non-volatile memory, input-output devices and system management registers in small embedded systems. The technique was common in 8-bit microcomputer systems. Bank-switching may also be used to work around limitations in address bus width, where some hardware constraint prevents straightforward addition of more address lines, and to work around limitations in the ISA, where the addresses generated are narrower than the address bus width. Some control-oriented microprocessors use a bank-switching technique to access internal I/O and control registers, which limits the number of register address bits that must be used in every instruction.
Unlike memory management by paging, data is not exchanged with a mass storage device like disk storage. Data remains in quiescent storage in a memory area that is not currently accessible to the processor (although it may be accessible to the video display, DMA controller, or other subsystems of the computer) without the use of special prefix instructions.
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Bankswitching is a technique used in computer design to increase the amount of usable memory beyond the amount directly addressable by the processor instructions...
for every interrupt mode. x86 processors use context switching and fast interrupt for switching between instruction, decoder, GPRs and register files...
In DOS memory management, expanded memory is a system of bankswitching that provided additional memory to DOS programs beyond the limit of conventional...
identical memory banks of RAM, and use bankswitching to switch between them. Harvard architecture computers have (at least) two very different banks of memory...
addressing up to 1 megabyte of RAM via bankswitching. While numerous 6502-based processors can perform bankswitching, they achieve this via separate logic...
limits on the current and voltage they can handle, finite switching time, etc. The ideal switch is often used in circuit analysis as it greatly simplifies...
with earlier third-party 80-column cards) for adding more memory via bank-switching RAM cards. Through this slot it also includes built-in support for an...
Combat was only 2 KB. Later games circumvented this limitation with bankswitching. The console has 128 bytes of RAM for scratch space, the call stack...
produced by Microchip Technology. The memory architecture makes use of bankswitching. Software tools for assembler, debug and programming were only available...
systems, especially 8-bit systems, used very simple MMUs to perform bankswitching. Modern MMUs typically divide the virtual address space (the range of...
(NTSC), 128 colors, 128 bytes of RAM with 4 KB on cartridges (64 KB via bankswitching). The design experienced many makeovers and revisions during its 14-year...
became to mean any switching system including its facilities and operators. It is also used generally for the building that houses switching and related inside...
memory), a block of virtual memory Paging, a method of data retrieval Bankswitching, sometimes known as paging Electronic page, formatting digital documents...
System's major advantages by using discrete logic chips to perform bankswitching. Nintendo also demanded half of the copyright ownership for each game...
memory was mapped on to the I/O area, so it was controlled without bankswitching. These features made the X1 very powerful for game software. Despite...
function registers, and 232 bytes of general-purpose RAM), with awkward bank-switching in the models that supported more. In 2000, Microchip introduced the...
entry. Mapping a memory range smaller than the framebuffer memory, then bankswitching as necessary. The framebuffer organization may be packed pixel or planar...
pins of the processor are used to control the computer's memory map by bankswitching, and for controlling three of the four signal lines of the Datasette...
Cromemco introduced the concept of bank-switching to the S-100 bus which allowed memory to be place in one of 8 banks of 64 Kbytes, thus expanding the effective...
make 64+ KB) of Executable ROS (ROM) and up to 64 KB of RAM. A simple bankswitching scheme was used to extend the address space. In 1973, the IBM Los Gatos...
tubes) were commonly used as switching elements; a useful computer requires thousands or tens of thousands of switching devices. The overall speed of...
were supportive of the solid-state medium due to fast read speeds and bankswitching. Some other developers had vastly heavier designs, such as the use of...
limits can be overcome using special techniques. Bankswitching allows blocks of RAM memory to be switched into the processor's address space when required...
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