Essential Terms | Saylor University

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S

set-associative cache

The modern middle ground. The cache is divided into Sets. A block of RAM maps directly to a specific set, but once inside that set, it can be placed in any available line within it (for example, a 4-way set-associative cache allows 4 choices per set).

sign bit

A single, dedicated binary bit that determines the polarity of the number. A value of 0 denotes a positive number, while a value of 1 denotes a negative number.

spatial locality

If a program accesses a memory location, it is likely to access nearby memory locations soon afterward. For example, traversing an array typically accesses consecutive elements stored in adjacent memory addresses.