Apparatus and method for performing address translation

A method of address translation comprising the steps of:

• Storing, in storage, physical address information in a plurality of entries, each entry being contained within a segment of entries, and each segment containing entries which correspond to virtual addresses in a predefined order;
• generating a corresponding physical address from the stored physical address information in response to identification information specified by a data processing activity,
• wherein the identification information comprises a segment identifier and a portion of a virtual address, wherein the portion of the virtual address specifies a selected entry within the segment of entries specified by the segment identifier,
• wherein the storage is configured to store a number of segments which is at least equal to an expected number of segments which the data processing activity will require within a time period given by an expected latency for the retrieval of a unit of physical address information from a memory;
• and
• initiating retrieval of physical address information corresponding to a predicted segment identifier which is the expected number of segments after the segment identifier in response to the segment identifier specified by the data processing activity.

An apparatus comprising:

• means for storing physical address information in a plurality of entries, each entry being contained within a segment of entries, and each segment containing entries which correspond to virtual addresses in a predefined order;
• means for generating a corresponding physical address from the stored physical address information in response to identification information specified by a data processing activity,
• wherein the identification information comprises a segment identifier and a portion of a virtual address, wherein the portion of the virtual address specifies a selected entry within the segment of entries specified by the segment identifier,
• wherein the means for storing physical address information is configured to store at least a number of segments which is at least equal to an expected number of segments which the data processing activity will require within a time period given by an expected latency for the retrieval of a unit of physical address information from a memory;
• and
• means for initiating retrieval of physical address information corresponding to a predicted segment identifier which is the expected number of segments after the segment identifier in response to the segment identifier specified by the data processing activity.