hardware//I/O//DMA

Direct memory access (DMA) is a hardware engine that copies data between RAM and peripherals without CPU intervention. The CPU programs the source and destination addresses and the length, and the DMA controller then handles the transfer on its own.

Direct memory access (DMA) is a hardware engine that copies data between RAM and peripherals without CPU intervention. The CPU programs the source and destination addresses and the length, and the DMA controller then handles the transfer on its own.

It is critical for high-throughput I/O: disk, network, audio and discrete PCIe transfers. In an embedded MCU, DMA channels service the ADC, SPI and UART buffers.