Patent · US Expired

Packet switched cache coherent multiprocessor system

US5634068A · kind A · utility

119Cited by
12References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 31, 1995
Grant dateMay 27, 1997
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 31, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F12/0822
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A multiprocessor computer system has a multiplicity of sub-systems and a main memory coupled to a system controller. An interconnect module, interconnects the main memory and sub-systems in accordance with interconnect control signals received from the system controller. All of the sub-systems include a port that transmits and receives data as data packets of a fixed size. At least two of the sub-systems are data processors, each having a respective cache memory and a respective set of master cache tags (Etags), including one cache tag for each data block stored by the cache memory. The system controller maintains a set of duplicate cache tags (Dtags) for each of the data processors. The data processors each include master cache logic for updating the master cache tags, while the system controller includes logic for updating the duplicate cache tags. Memory transaction request logic simultaneously looks up the second cache tag in each of the sets of duplicate cache tags corresponding to the memory transaction request. It then determines which one of the cache memories and main memory to couple to the requesting data processor based on the second cache states and the address tags st…

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