modality

n 1: a classification of propositions on the basis of whether

they claim necessity or possibility or impossibility

[syn: {mode}]

2: verb inflections that express how the action or state is

conceived by the speaker [syn: {mood}, {mode}]

3: a particular sense [syn: {sense modality}, {sensory system}]

4: a method of therapy that involves physical treatment

locality

1. In sequential architectures programs tend to access data

that has been accessed recently (temporal locality) or that is

at an address near recently referenced data (spatial

locality). This is the basis for the speed-up obtained with a

{cache} memory.

2. In a multi-processor architecture with distributed memory

it takes longer to access the memory attached to a different

processor. This overhead increases with the number of

communicating processors. Thus to efficiently employ many

processors on a problem we must increase the proportion of

references which are to local memory.

(1995-02-28)