Dual-granularity state tracking for directory-based cache coherence
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsBradford M. Beckmann, Arkaprava Basu, Steven K. Reinhardt
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Abstract
A system and method of providing directory cache coherence are disclosed. The system and method may include tracking the coherence state of at least one cache block contained within a region using a global directory, providing at least one region level sharing information about the least one cache block in the global directory, and providing at least one block level sharing information about the at least one cache block in the global directory. The tracking of the provided at least one region level sharing information and the provided at least one block level sharing information may organize the coherence state of the at least one cache block and the region.
Claims20
A method of providing directory cache coherence, said method comprising:
- tracking the coherence state of at least one cache block contained within a region using a global directory;
- providing at least one region level sharing information about said at least one cache block in the global directory;
- and
- providing at least one block level sharing information about said at least one cache block in the global directory,
- wherein said tracking of said provided at least one region level sharing information and said provided at least one block level sharing information organize the coherence state of the at least one cache block and the region.
A method of tracking sharing information of cache blocks at both the region and block level, said method comprising:
- storing sharing information in a region address comprising an index portion of the address and a tag field;
- and
- providing a vector of block-level fields within a region entry, said block-level fields containing block-level sharing information for a corresponding block within the region.
A computer readable medium including hardware design code stored thereon which when executed by a processor cause the system to perform a method for providing directory cache coherence balancing storage overhead and bandwidth demand, said method comprising:
- tracking the coherence state of at least one cache block contained within a region using a global directory;
- providing at least one region level sharing information about said at least one cache block in the global directory;
- and
- providing at least one block level sharing information about said at least one cache block in the global directory,
- wherein said tracking of said provided at least one region level sharing information and said provided at least one block level sharing information organize the coherence state of the at least one cache block and the region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.