A term used to describe memory integrated circuits which can
be accessed simultaneously via two independent address and
data busses.
Dual ported memory is often used in video display hardware,
especially in conjunction with Video Random Access Memory
(VRAM). The two ports allow the video display hardware to
read memory to display the contents on screen at the same time
as the CPU writes data to other areas of the same memory. In
single-ported memory these two processes cannot occur
simultanteously, the CPU must wait, thus resulting in slower
access times. Cycle stealing is one technique used to avoid
this in single-ported video memory.
(1995-01-12)
Nearby terms:
Dual In-Line « Dual In-line Memory Module « Dual In-Line Package « dual ported » dual-stack » Dual Tone Multi Frequency » duck typing
