Patent · US Expired

System and method for dynamically controlling cache management

US5381539A · kind A · utility

279Cited by
18References
40Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 4, 1992
Grant dateJan 10, 1995
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 4, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S427/104
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A cache management system and method monitors and controls the contents of cache memory coupled to at least one host and at least one data storage device. A cache indexer maintains a current index of data elements which are stored in cache memory. A sequential data access indicator, responsive to the cache index and to a user selectable sequential data access threshold, determines that a sequential data access is in progress for a given process and provides an indication of the same. The system and method allocate a micro-cache memory to any process performing a sequential data access. In response to the indication of a sequential data access in progress and to a user selectable maximum number of data elements to be prefetched, a data retrieval requestor requests retrieval of up to the selected maximum number of data elements from a data storage device. A user selectable number of sequential data elements determines when previously used micro-cache memory locations will be overwritten. A method of dynamically monitoring and adjusting cache management parameters is also presented.

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