System and method for multiple cache-line size communications

• US 20060218348A1
• Filed: 03/22/2005
• Published: 09/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaw, Mark E., Gostin, Gary B., Pallotti, Lisa Heid
• Granted Patent: US 7,206,889 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0886 Variable-length word access
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4022 using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network G06F13/4009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/601 Reconfiguration of cache memory

Abstract

A system and method for facilitating communications between a plurality of devices that communicate using different cache-line sizes are disclosed. Briefly described, in architecture, one exemplary embodiment of a compatible cache-line communication system employs a plurality of first ports, each first port configured to receive communications from a first type of device that uses a first cache-line size; and a plurality of second ports, each second port configured to receive communications from a second type of device that uses a second cache-line size, such that communications between the first type of devices are enabled over a plurality of first routes, such that communications between the second type of devices are enabled over a plurality of second routes, and such that communications between the first type of devices and the second type of devices are disabled.

Claims

1. A compatible cache-line communication system, comprising:

a plurality of first ports, each first port configured to receive communications from a first type of device that uses a first cache-line size; and

a plurality of second ports, each second port configured to receive communications from a second type of device that uses a second cache-line size, such that communications between the first type of devices are enabled over a plurality of first routes, such that communications between the second type of devices are enabled over a plurality of second routes, and such that communications between the first type of devices and the second type of devices are disabled.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a table having at least information identifying the cache-line size of the first type of devices and the second type of devices;

a controller configured to determine the cache-line size used by a receiving device, wherein the receiving device is one of the first or the second type of devices, configured to determine if the cache-line size of the communication is compatible with the cache-line size of the receiving device, and configured to enable a corresponding one of the routes only if the cache-line size of the communication and the receiving device are compatible.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the controller evaluates a header associated with the communication to determine an identity of a sending device that originated the communication.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the controller evaluates a data associated with the communication to determine the cache-line size of the communication.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first routes and the second routes are predefined.

2. The system of claim 2, further comprising at least one crossbar device that communicatively couples to the plurality of first ports and the plurality of second ports.

7. A method for facilitating communications between a plurality of devices that communicate using different cache-line sizes, the method comprising:

determining the cache-line size of a first device;

determining the cache-line size of a second device; and

enabling a communication route between the first device and the second device when the determined cache-line sizes correspond.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising disabling the communication route between the first device and the second device when the determined cache-line sizes do not correspond.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a device identity (ID) of the first device which is to receive the communication from the second device; and

determining the cache-line size of the first device by looking up information corresponding to the device ID and the cache-line size in a table.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the device ID further comprises determining the device ID from information residing in a header of a data packet.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining a second device ID of the communicating second device which transmits the communication to the first device; and

determining the cache-line size of the communicating second device by looking up information corresponding to the second device ID and the cache-line size in the table.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the second device ID further comprises determining the second device ID from information residing in a header of a data packet.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising analyzing information residing in data of a data packet to determine the cache-line size of the second device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein analyzing information further comprises analyzing cache-line information residing in the data of the data packet.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein analyzing information further comprises analyzing a format of the data of the data packet.

16. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining the cache-line size of a third device;

determining the cache-line size of a fourth device; and

disabling a second communication route between the third device and the fourth device when the determined cache-line sizes do not correspond.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the enabling and the disabling are predetermined.

18. The method of claim 7, wherein the enabling further comprises communicating an enabling signal.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the communicating further comprises communicating the enabling signal to a port to which the first device is communicatively coupled to.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the communicating further comprises communicating the enabling signal to a port to which the second device is communicatively coupled to.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the communicating further comprises communicating the enabling signal to a component of the communication route.

22. A system for facilitating communications between a plurality of devices that communicate using different cache-line sizes, comprising:

means for determining the cache-line size of a first device and for determining the cache-line size of a second device;

means for enabling a communication route between the first device and the second device when the determined cache-line sizes correspond; and

means for disabling the communication route between the first device and the second device when the determined cache-line sizes do not correspond.

23. A program for facilitating communications between a plurality of devices that communicate using different cache-line sizes stored on computer-readable medium, the program comprising logic configured to perform:

determining the cache-line size of a first device;

determining the cache-line size of a second device;

enabling a communication route between the first device and the second device when the determined cache-line sizes correspond; and

disabling the communication route between the first device and the second device when the determined cache-line sizes do not correspond.