Protected memory accessing.

摘要

A method of and a controller for accessing a protected memory which is logically divided into major partitions - pages - which are in turn sub-divided into minor partitions - blocks - by concurrently executing transactions, using virtual block addressing and address translation at the memory controller via an access table, wherein there are provided table entries containing priviledged access control fields relating to the pages and lock fields relating to the individual blocks, by receiving an address of a data block to be accessed by an identifiable transaction; deriving from the address an access table entry corresponding to the data block and testing the data in the page access control field and the lock field governing access to the block; and providing the requested access if permitted by the access control data and the lock data for the type of access concerned, and also providing recorded access, if not permitted but not specifically denied by the lock data, using at least part of the lock field to record such latter type of access.