Memory Virtualization: Address Space Abstraction and Management

This lecture introduces the concept of memory virtualization, focusing on how the operating system creates the illusion of infinite memory for applications. It begins by discussing the role of the operating system as both an illusionist and a referee, managing resources and ensuring process isolation. The lecture emphasizes the address space abstraction, detailing the logical view of a process's memory, which consists of four segments: stack, heap, data, and text. The instructor explains the management of the stack and heap as dynamic data structures, and makes a case for virtual memory, highlighting its implementation through segmentation. The lecture also covers the memory management unit (MMU) as a crucial component that provides a level of indirection, allowing the CPU to interact with virtual rather than physical memory. Additionally, the principle of indirection is presented as a fundamental design approach in systems, with examples of batching and caching as other important principles in operating system design.