Method and system for detecting and resolving virtual address synonyms in a two-level cache hierarchy
US6751720B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 7, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jun 15, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 1, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2212/621
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
L1 cache synonyms in a two-level cache system are detected and resolved by logic in the L2 cache. Duplicate copies of the L1 cache tags and state (“Dtags”) are maintained in the L2 cache. After a miss occurs in the L1 cache, the Dtags in the second-level cache that correspond to all possible synonym locations in the L1 cache are searched for synonyms. If a synonym is found, the L2 cache notifies the L1 cache where the requested cache line can be found in the L1 cache. The L1 cache then copies the cache line from the location where the synonym was found to the location where the miss occurred, and it invalidates the cache line at the original location. The Dtags in the second-level cache are updated to reflect the changes made in the L1 cache.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.