Defining the Address Space

Defining the Address Space

Each process has a virtual address space; in other words, a set of memory addresses that the process can use. When 32-bit addressing is in use, the addresses can range from 0 to 0x7fffffff; that is, 231 numbers, for a total theoretical size of 2 gigabytes. (Numbers greater than 231 are reserved for kernel addresses.) When 64-bit addressing is used, a process's address space can encompass 240 numbers. (The numbers greater than 240 are reserved for kernel address spaces.)

Address Space Boundaries
Page Numbers and Offsets
Address Definition
Address Space Limits
Page Validation
Read-Only Pages
Copy-on-Write Pages