Dynamically controlling cache size to maximize energy efficiency
First Claim
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1. A processor comprising:
- a first domain including a plurality of cores to independently execute instructions;
a second domain including at least one graphics engine;
a cache memory coupled to the plurality of cores and including a plurality of partitions; and
a power controller coupled to the first domain and the cache memory, wherein the power controller includes a first logic to dynamically vary a size of the cache memory based at least in part on a memory boundedness of a workload to be executed on at least one of the plurality of cores, and to cause at least one of the plurality of partitions to be powered with a retention voltage to maintain a state of the at least one core of the plurality of cores when the processor is in a package low power state in which the first domain and the second domain are in a low power state.
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Abstract
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a processor having a plurality of cores and a cache memory coupled to the cores and including a plurality of partitions. The processor can further include a logic to dynamically vary a size of the cache memory based on a memory boundedness of a workload executed on at least one of the cores. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A processor comprising:
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a first domain including a plurality of cores to independently execute instructions; a second domain including at least one graphics engine; a cache memory coupled to the plurality of cores and including a plurality of partitions; and a power controller coupled to the first domain and the cache memory, wherein the power controller includes a first logic to dynamically vary a size of the cache memory based at least in part on a memory boundedness of a workload to be executed on at least one of the plurality of cores, and to cause at least one of the plurality of partitions to be powered with a retention voltage to maintain a state of the at least one core of the plurality of cores when the processor is in a package low power state in which the first domain and the second domain are in a low power state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which if performed by a machine cause the machine to perform a method comprising:
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determining, in a power controller of a multicore processor, whether a memory dependency value of a workload is greater than a first threshold, and if so enabling all of a plurality of ways of a cache memory of the multicore processor; and otherwise determining, in the power controller, if the memory dependency value is less than a third threshold, and if so disabling at least one way of the cache memory. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A system comprising:
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a processor comprising; a plurality of cores to independently execute instructions; a shared cache memory coupled to the plurality of cores and including a plurality of partitions; and a power controller coupled to the plurality of cores and the shared cache memory, wherein the power controller includes a first logic to dynamically vary a size of the shared cache memory based on a memory boundedness of a workload to be executed on at least one of the plurality of cores, and to cause at least a first partition to be powered with a retention voltage to maintain a state of at least one core of the plurality of cores and cause at least a second partition to be disabled while the at least first partition is powered with the retention voltage when the processor is in a package low power state in which the plurality of cores are power gated, the power controller to dynamically enable or disable the plurality of partitions independently; at least one graphics engine; and an interconnect to couple the plurality of cores, the shared cache memory, and the at least one graphics engine; at least one communication device coupled to the processor; and a system memory coupled to the processor. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification