Patent · US Expired

Main memory access in a microprocessor system with a cache memory

US4847758A · kind A · utility

76Cited by
2References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 30, 1987
Grant dateJul 11, 1989
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 30, 2007

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F12/0862
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A data processing system includes a high speed buffer, or cache, memory for temporarily storing recently executed instructions and a slower main memory in which is stored the system's operating program. Rather than sequentially accessing the cache memory to determine if the next instruction is stored therein and then accessing the main memory if the cache memory does not have the next instruction, system operating speed is increased by simultaneously accessing the cache and main memories. By accessing the main memory during its row address strobe (RAS) precharge time while simultaneously accessing the cache memory, the time necessary for the system's processor unit (PU) to read the next instruction from the main memory when not stored in the cache memory is substantially reduced.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.