Software paging system

A method for translating, in a software paging system, an input key describing a virtual page to the address of the page in main memory, comprises creating, in main memory, a translation buffer which has a plurality of records. Each record has a plurality of cells, each cell having a key field for storing a key or a portion of a key which identifies a page in memory, and each cell having an address field for storing the address of the identified page. If the input key matches a stored key, the address associated with the identified page is retrieved. Otherwise, a paging manager is invoked to establish an address for the input key, and the input key and established address are saved. The least recently used order of memory pages addressed in the dereferenced record is indicated by updating a least recently used cell indicator associated with the dereferenced record. Alternatively, a table having a plurality of entries is created, wherein each entry references a respective hash chain of translation records in a main memory translation buffer. Each translation record has a key field for storing a key identifying a page, and an associated address field for storing the address of the identified page in memory. The records of the hash chain are searched until a translation record is found which has a key value matching the input key.