US 6,272,592 B1Granted

Cache memory device

AssigneeInria Institut National De Recherche En Informatique Et En Automatique

InventorAndré Seznec

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Abstract

A cache memory device including an input/output (ESRQ) for receiving a request (REQ) having a main address (AP) and optional data (D); an input/output (ESMP) to an addressable main memory (MP) or another addressable cache memory; a plurality of X memory banks (BCi) wherein i is lower than X and higher than 0, each having a number Li of lines for containing data, the lines being individually designated by a local address (AL) in each bank; an arrangement for answering a request (REQ) by connecting the main address (AP) in the request to a local address (AL) in the bank (BCi) in accordance with a predetermined la (fi) for each bank (BCi), whereby the line thus designated in the bank (BCi) is the only line to contain the datum referred to by the main address; and an arrangement (CHA) for loading the cache memory according to the received requests. At least two predetermined laws (fi) are substantially distinct depending on the banks in question, and the two banks in question are addressed separately, hereby the average cache memory data access hit rate is improved.

An improved cache memory device for use in a data processing system which includes an addressable main memory (MP);

at least one request input/output (ESRQ) for receiving a request (REQ) for access to a data item stored in the addressable main memory (MP) or in the cache memory device, the request (RQ) including a main address (AP) of the desired data item;
at least one main memory input/output (ESMP) connected to the main addressable memory (MP) for accessing the desired data item of the main memory;
a plurality of X memory banks (BCi) with i being less than or equal to X and greater than 0, each having a number Li of lines capable of containing data, these lines being capable of being individually designated by a local address (ALi) in each bank (BCi);
computing means (CAL) connected to the request input/output (ESRQ) and capable of answering the request (REQ) by transforming the main address (AP) contained in this request to a local address (AL) inside each of the banks (BCi), the line thus designated in the bank (BCi) being the only line of the said bank that is capable of containing the data labelled by the main address;
and loading means (CHA) connected to the main memory input/output (ESMP) for loading the data line of the main memory containing the desired data item into the cache memory device if it is not present in the cache memory device, wherein the improvement comprises:
the computing means (CAL) comprises means for transforming the main address (AP) into a first local address in a first one of the memory banks in accordance with a first predetermined law associated with the first one of the memory banks, and for transforming the main address (AP) into a second local address in a second one of the memory banks in accordance with a second predetermined law which is associated with the second one of the memory banks,
the first and second predetermined laws are distinct, and
the first and second memory banks are addressed separately, according to their respective law.

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Abstract

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