System and method for managing data in an asynchronous I/O cache memory

In a computing system having a cache memory interposed between a system memory and an input/output (I/O) bus, wherein data read from the system memory to the I/O bus is read through the cache memory, a method for managing data within the cache memory comprising the steps of:

• identifying a request for data from the system memory by a device on the I/O bus;
• reading the data from the system memory into the cache memory;
• communicating the data from the cache memory to the I/O bus, for communication to the a requesting device;
• and
• immediately discarding the data from the cache memory.

A system for managing data in an asynchronous input/output (I/O) cache memory comprising:

• memory space comprising a plurality of data lines within the cache memory;
• a memory manager configured to manage the data within the memory space, the memory manager further including:
• means for identifying a request for data from a device disposed to communicate with the cache memory via an I/O bus;
• means for controlling the communication of data from the system memory into at least one line of the memory space;
• means for controlling the communication of data from the memory space out of the cache memory to the requesting device;
• and
• means for discarding the at least one line of the memory space.