ARM Architecture Reference Manual ARMv7-A and ARMv7-R edition

Chapter B3
Virtual Memory System Architecture (VMSA)
This chapter provides a system-level view of the Virtual Memory System Architecture (VMSA), the
memory system architecture of an ARMv7-A implementation. It contains the following sections:
About the VMSA on page B3-2
Memory access sequence on page B3-4
Translation tables on page B3-7
Address mapping restrictions on page B3-23
Secure and Non-secure address spaces on page B3-26
Memory access control on page B3-28
Memory region attributes on page B3-32
VMSA memory aborts on page B3-40
Fault Status and Fault Address registers in a VMSA implementation on page B3-48
Translation Lookaside Buffers (TLBs) on page B3-54
Virtual Address to Physical Address translation operations on page B3-63
CP15 registers for a VMSA implementation on page B3-64
Pseudocode details of VMSA memory system operations on page B3-156.
Note
For an ARMv7-A implementation, this chapter must be read with Chapter B2 Common Memory System
Architecture Features.
ARM DDI 0406B Copyright © 1996-1998, 2000, 2004-2008 ARM Limited. All rights reserved. B3-1