paging

The term paging is used both in virtual memory management and in messaging.

1. In virtual memory management, paging represents a procedure in which data and program parts are swapped out as fixed units. In paging, the entire address space of the virtual memory is divided into logical areas, the pages, by address conversion. These pages can be assigned to any address that must be available in the memory. When a program is executed, only the pages that are required for the corresponding operation are ever loaded into the main memory. This procedure can be used to perform operations whose data volumes exceed the storage capacity of the main memory.
2. In messaging, paging refers to paging services where information is transmitted unidirectionally to a receiving device. The messages can be call signals, tones, numeric and alphanumeric characters, or data. The receiving devices are also referred to as pagers.