Utilization of SRAM in an execution of initialization code process upon system start up

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#1. Field of the Invention

#FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of a personal computer with startup memory according to the present invention; and,

#FIG. 2 is a block and logic diagram of circuitry for overlaying the startup memory onto ROM address space.

#Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, computer companies may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name, but not function. In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . ”. Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections.

#With reference to FIG. 1, the overall structure of a personal computer according to the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the computer includes two processors 10 and 12, which are part of an AMD processor system. Processors 10 and 12 are coupled through memory control unit 14 to DRAM 16, which is the primary RAM used during normal operation of the computer after startup and initialization. In the embodiment shown, the DRAM comprises four DIMMs (Double Inline Memory Modules), labeled DIMM 1 through DIMM 4.

#The BIOS software needed for startup is stored in read only memory 18, which in this embodiment is an industry standard architecture flash memory device having a capacity of four megabits. This provides for storage of about 512 kilobytes for eight bit words. Eight megabit memory devices are commercially available and may be substituted if desired. Since the BIOS software also includes the DRAM initialization code, memory 18 may also be considered the initialization memory.