Managing access to memory by determining virtual addresses in dependence on access request type

Abstract

A method of managing access to a physical memory formed of n memory page frames using a set of virtual address spaces having n virtual address spaces each formed of a plurality p of contiguous memory pages. The method includes receiving a write request to write a block of data to a virtual address within a virtual address space i of the n virtual address spaces, the virtual address defined by the virtual address space i, a memory page j within that virtual address space i and an offset from the start of that memory page j; translating the virtual address to an address of the physical memory using a virtual memory table having n by p entries specifying mappings between memory pages of the virtual address spaces and memory page frames of the physical memory, wherein the physical memory address is defined by: (i) the memory page frame mapped to the memory page j as specified by the virtual memory table, and (ii) the offset of the virtual address; and writing the block of data to the physical memory address.