What is Average memory access time?

The average time per memory access, computed as hit time + miss rate × miss penalty. A basic metric for comparing cache designs.

Field: Memory Hierarchy

Average memory access time in the explanations

Questions that mention Average memory access time (3)

  1. With an L1 hit time of 1 ns and miss rate of 5%, an L2 hit time of 10 ns and local miss rate of 20%, and main memory access time of 100 ns, what is the average memory access time?
  2. With a cache hit time of 2 cycles, a miss rate of 4% and a miss penalty of 150 cycles, what is the average memory access time in cycles?
  3. Why must cache designs be compared by average memory access time rather than miss rate alone?

Related terms

Miss penalty Cache line Capacity miss Compulsory miss Conflict miss Direct-mapped cache Fully associative cache Loop blocking LRU replacement Non-blocking cache

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