Patent · US Expired

Hybrid memory access protocol in a distributed shared memory computer system

US6496854B1 · kind B1 · utility

72Cited by
14References
65Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 25, 2000
Grant dateDec 17, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 25, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F12/082
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method, in a computer network having a first plurality of nodes coupled to a common network infrastructure and a distributed shared memory distributed among the first plurality of nodes, for servicing a memory access request by a first node of the first plurality of nodes. The memory access request pertains to a memory block of a memory module that has a home node different from the first node in the computer network. The home node has a partial directory cache that has fewer directory cache entries than a total number of memory blocks in the memory module. If the memory block is currently cached in the partial directory cache, the first memory access request is serviced using a directory protocol. If the memory block is not currently cached in the partial directory cache, the first memory access request is serviced using a directory-less protocol.

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