Metaphysical address space for holding lossy metadata in hardware
US8806101B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 30, 2008 |
| Grant date | Aug 12, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 8, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/467
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for metaphysical address space for holding lossy metadata is herein described. An explicit or implicit metadata access operation referencing data address of a data item is encountered. Hardware modifies the data address to a metadata address including a metaphysical extension. The metaphysical extension overlays one or more metaphysical address space(s) on the data address space. A portion of the metadata address including the metaphysical extension is utilized to search a tag array of the cache memory holding the data item. As a result, metadata access operations only hit metadata entries of the cache based on the metadata address extension. However, as the metadata is held within the cache, the metadata potentially competes with data for space within the cache.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.