Software-controlled cache set management

A method for managing cache replacement eligibility, comprising:

• requesting an address from an L1 cache;
• in response to a determination that the requested address is not in the L1 cache, determining whether the address falls within at least one predetermined range of addresses;
• setting a class identifier to a default value if the requested address does not fall within at least one predetermined range of addresses;
• setting a class identifier to a predetermined value associated with a predetermined range of addresses if the requested address falls within the predetermined range of addresses;
• generating tag replacement control indicia in response to the class identifier;
• requesting the address from an L2 cache, the L2 cache comprising one or more sets of cache lines;
• and
• in response to a determination that the requested address is not in the L2 cache, setting replacement eligibility of a set in the L2 cache in response to the tag replacement control indicia and overwriting a cache line within a set of the L2 cache as a function of the replacement eligibility.

A computer program product for cache replacement eligibility, the computer program product having a computer-readable medium with a computer program embodied thereon, the computer program comprising:

• computer code for requesting an address from an L1 cache;
• computer code for, in response to a determination that the requested address is not in the L1 cache, determining whether the address falls within at least one predetermined range of addresses;
• computer code for setting a class identifier to a default value if the requested address does not fall within at least one predetermined range of addresses;
• computer code for setting a class identifier to a predetermined value associated with a predetermined range of addresses if the requested address falls within the predetermined range of addresses;
• computer code for generating tag replacement control indicia in response to the class identifier;
• computer code for requesting the address from an L2 cache, the L2 cache comprising one or more sets of cache lines;
• and
• computer code for, in response to a determination that the requested address is not in the L2 cache, setting replacement eligibility of a set in the L2 cache in response to the tag replacement control indicia and overwriting a cache line within a set of the L2 cache as a function of the replacement eligibility.

A processor for determining information replacement in a cache, the processor including a computer program comprising:

• computer code for requesting an address from an L1 cache;
• computer code for, in response to a determination that the requested address is not in the L1 cache, determining whether the address falls within at least one predetermined range of addresses;
• computer code for setting a class identifier to a default value if the requested address does not fall within at least one predetermined range of addresses;
• computer code for setting a class identifier to a predetermined value associated with a predetermined range of addresses if the requested address falls within the predetermined range of addresses;
• computer code for generating tag replacement control indicia in response to the class identifier;
• computer code for requesting the address from an L2 cache, the L2 cache comprising one or more sets of cache lines;
• and
• computer code for, in response to a determination that the requested address is not in the L2 cache, setting replacement eligibility of a set in the L2 cache in response to the tag replacement control indicia and overwriting a cache line within a set of the L2 cache as a function of the replacement eligibility.