from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Translation Look-aside Buffer
TLB
<storage, architecture> (TLB) A table used in a {virtual
memory} system, that lists the {physical address} {page}
number associated with each {virtual address} {page} number.
A TLB is used in conjunction with a {cache} whose tags are
based on virtual addresses. The virtual address is presented
simultaneously to the TLB and to the cache so that cache
access and the virtual-to-physical address translation can
proceed in parallel (the translation is done "on the side").
If the requested address is not cached then the physical
address is used to locate the data in main memory. The
alternative would be to place the translation table between
the cache and main memory so that it will only be activated
once there was a cache miss.
(1995-01-30)