Methods and apparatus for responding to a request cluster
First Claim
1. A computer system, comprising:
- a home cluster including a first plurality of processors and a home cache coherence controller, the first plurality of processors and the home cache coherence controller interconnected in a point-to-point architecture;
wherein the home cache coherence controller is configured to send a probe to a remote cluster upon receiving a cache access request from a request cluster, wherein the probe includes information directing the remote cluster to send a probe response corresponding to the request to the request cluster.
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Abstract
According to the present invention, methods and apparatus are provided for increasing the efficiency of data access in a multiple processor, multiple cluster system. A home cluster of processors receives a cache access request from a request cluster. The home cluster includes mechanisms for instructing probed remote clusters to respond to the request cluster instead of to the home cluster. The home cluster can also include mechanisms for reducing the number of probes sent to remote clusters. Techniques are also included for providing the requesting cluster with information to determine the number of responses to be transmitted to the requesting cluster as a result of the reduction in the number of probes sent at the home cluster.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A computer system, comprising:
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a home cluster including a first plurality of processors and a home cache coherence controller, the first plurality of processors and the home cache coherence controller interconnected in a point-to-point architecture;
wherein the home cache coherence controller is configured to send a probe to a remote cluster upon receiving a cache access request from a request cluster, wherein the probe includes information directing the remote cluster to send a probe response corresponding to the request to the request cluster. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer system, comprising:
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a first cluster including a first plurality of processors and a first cache coherence controller, the first plurality of processors and the first cache coherence controller interconnected in a point-to-point architecture;
a second cluster including a second plurality of processors and a second cache coherence controller, the second plurality of processors and the second cache coherence controller interconnected in a point-to-point architecture, the first cache coherence controller coupled to the second cache coherence controller and configured to send a request to the second cluster;
wherein the first cache coherence controller is configured to receive a plurality of probe responses corresponding to the request. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for a cache coherence controller to manage data access in a multiprocessor system, the method comprising:
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sending a cache access request originating from a first cluster of processors to a second cluster of processors;
receiving a plurality of probe responses corresponding to the cache access request from a plurality of clusters. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A cache coherence controller in a multiprocessor system, the cache coherence controller comprising:
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means for sending a cache access request originating from a first cluster of processors to a second cluster of processors;
means for receiving a plurality of probe responses corresponding to the cache access request from a plurality of clusters. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification