Patent · US Active

System and method to invalidate obsolete address translations

US8412911B2 · kind B2 · utility

10Cited by
17References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 29, 2009
Grant dateApr 2, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 14, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2212/683
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method for invalidating obsolete virtual/real address to physical address translations may employ translation lookaside buffers to cache translations. TLB entries may be invalidated in response to changes in the virtual memory space, and thus may need to be demapped. A non-cacheable unit (NCU) residing on a processor may be configured to receive and manage a global TLB demap request from a thread executing on a core residing on the processor. The NCU may send the request to local cores and/or to NCUs of external processors in a multiprocessor system using a hardware instruction to broadcast to all cores and/or processors or to multicast to designated cores and/or processors. The NCU may track completion of the demap operation across the cores and/or processors using one or more counters, and may send an acknowledgement to the initiator of the demap request when the global demap request has been satisfied.

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