The page-translation step is optional. Page translation is in effect only when the PG bit of CR0 is set. This bit is typically set by the operating system during software initialization. The PG bit must be set if the operating system is to implement multiple virtual 8086 tasks, page-oriented protection, or page-oriented virtual memory.
Figure 5-9 shows how the processor converts the DIR, PAGE, and OFFSET fields of a linear address into the physical address by consulting two levels of page tables. The addressing mechanism uses the DIR field as an index into a page directory, uses the PAGE field as an index into the page table determined by the page directory, and uses the OFFSET field to address a byte within the page determined by the page table.
Two levels of tables are used to address a page of memory. At the higher level is a page directory. The page directory addresses up to 1K page tables of the second level. A page table of the second level addresses up to 1K pages. All the tables addressed by one page directory, therefore, can address 1M pages (2^(20)). Because each page contains 4K bytes 2^(12) bytes), the tables of one page directory can span the entire physical address space of the 80386 (2^(20) times 2^(12) = 2^(32)).
The physical address of the current page directory is stored in the CPU register CR3, also called the page directory base register (PDBR). Memory management software has the option of using one page directory for all tasks, one page directory for each task, or some combination of the two. Refer to Chapter 10 for information on initialization of CR3 . Refer to Chapter 7 to see how CR3 can change for each task .
When P=0 in either level of page tables, the entry is not valid for address translation, and the rest of the entry is available for software use; none of the other bits in the entry is tested by the hardware. Figure 5-11 illustrates the format of a page-table entry when P=0.
If P=0 in either level of page tables when an attempt is made to use a page-table entry for address translation, the processor signals a page exception. In software systems that support paged virtual memory, the page-not-present exception handler can bring the required page into physical memory. The instruction that caused the exception can then be reexecuted. Refer to Chapter 9 for more information on exception handlers .
Note that there is no present bit for the page directory itself. The page directory may be not-present while the associated task is suspended, but the operating system must ensure that the page directory indicated by the CR3 image in the TSS is present in physical memory before the task is dispatched . Refer to Chapter 7 for an explanation of the TSS and task dispatching.
The processor sets the corresponding accessed bits in both levels of page tables to one before a read or write operation to a page.
The processor sets the dirty bit in the second-level page table to one before a write to an address covered by that page table entry. The dirty bit in directory entries is undefined.
An operating system that supports paged virtual memory can use these bits to determine what pages to eliminate from physical memory when the demand for memory exceeds the physical memory available. The operating system is responsible for testing and clearing these bits.
Refer to Chapter 11 for how the 80386 coordinates updates to the accessed and dirty bits in multiprocessor systems.
The existence of the page-translation cache is invisible to applications programmers but not to systems programmers; operating-system programmers must flush the cache whenever the page tables are changed. The page-translation cache can be flushed by either of two methods:
MOV CR3, EAX
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