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Method and system for detecting and resolving virtual address synonyms in a two-level cache hierarchy

  • US 6,751,720 B2
  • Filed: 01/07/2002
  • Issued: 06/15/2004
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2000
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for detecting and resolving virtual memory address synonyms in a multi-level cache hierarchy, the multi-level cache hierarchy comprising a first-level cache and a second-level cache wherein the first-level cache comprises a plurality of virtually indexed first-level cache lines each configured to store a physical memory address tag and state information, the method comprising:

  • maintaining a plurality of Dtags in the second-level cache, wherein each first-level cache line has an associated Dtag, and each Dtag includes state information for the first-level cache line and a copy of the physical memory address tag for the first-level cache line;

    first searching the first-level cache for a targeted physical memory address tag at an original first-level cache line, wherein the targeted physical memory address tag and original first-level cache line correspond to a requested virtual memory address;

    upon the first searching resulting in a miss, second searching the Dtags in the second-level cache to locate a synonym first-level cache line corresponding to the requested virtual memory address; and

    upon the second searching resulting in a hit, copying contents of the synonym first-level cache line to the original first-level cache line;

    invalidating the synonym first-level cache line; and

    updating the Dtags associated with the synonym first-level cache line and the original first-level cache line to reflect the copying and the invalidating.

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