Method and system for preventing cache lines from being flushed until data stored therein is used
First Claim
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1. A method of memory utilization in a computer system, the method comprising:
- responsive to receipt of a DMA transaction from an entity, determining whether a memory request comprising a cache line-sized portion of the DMA transaction is speculative; and
responsive to a determination that the memory request is not speculative, ensuring that a prefetch lock indicator of a cache line of a cache associated with the memory request is in a locked condition, thereby preventing a cache replacement algorithm (“
CRA”
) from flushing the associated cache line.
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Abstract
System and method of memory utilization in a computer system are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises, responsive to receipt of a DMA transaction from an entity, determining whether a memory request comprising a cache line-sized portion of the DMA transaction is speculative; and responsive to a determination that the memory request is not speculative, ensuring that a prefetch lock indicator of a cache line of a cache associated with the memory request is in a locked condition, thereby preventing a cache replacement algorithm (“CRA”) from flushing the associated cache line.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method of memory utilization in a computer system, the method comprising:
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responsive to receipt of a DMA transaction from an entity, determining whether a memory request comprising a cache line-sized portion of the DMA transaction is speculative; and
responsive to a determination that the memory request is not speculative, ensuring that a prefetch lock indicator of a cache line of a cache associated with the memory request is in a locked condition, thereby preventing a cache replacement algorithm (“
CRA”
) from flushing the associated cache line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A memory utilization method in a computer system, the method comprising:
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responsive to receipt of a DMA transaction from an entity, dividing the DMA transaction into at least one cache line-sized memory request;
determining whether the at least one memory request is speculative; and
responsive to a determination that the at least one memory request is not speculative, ensuring that a prefetch lock indicator of a cache line of a cache memory associated with the at least one memory request is in a locked condition, thereby preventing a cache replacement algorithm (“
CRA”
) from flushing the associated cache line. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for memory utilization in a computer, the system comprising:
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cache means for storing data in connection with DMA transactions;
means responsive to receipt of a DMA transaction from an entity for determining whether a memory request comprising a cache line-sized portion of the DMA transaction is speculative; and
means responsive to a determination that the memory request is not speculative for ensuring that a prefetch lock indicator of a cache line of the cache means associated with the memory request is in a locked condition, thereby preventing a cache replacement algorithm (“
CRA”
) from flushing the associated cache line. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A computer-readable medium operable with a computer including a cache memory for performing DMA transactions in a computer, the medium having stored thereon:
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instructions executable by the computer responsive to receipt of a DMA transaction from an entity for determining whether a memory request comprising a cache line-sized portion of the DMA transaction is speculative; and
instructions executable by the computer responsive to a determination that the memory request is not speculative for ensuring that a prefetch lock indicator of a cache line of the cache associated with the memory request is in a locked condition, thereby preventing a cache replacement algorithm (“
CRA”
) from flushing the associated cache line. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification