System and method for performing memory operations in a computing system

A method for performing memory operations in a computing system, comprising:

• receiving an instruction to access a memory location while in a Normal operating state;
• transitioning to a Transaction operating state in response to the instruction;
• transitioning a cache line associated with the memory location from a conventional MESI coherency protocol to one of a plurality of transactional coherency states associated with the Transaction operating state;
• performing updates to the cache line associated with the memory location, the updates to the cache line not being visible to other processors in the computing system;
• receiving a commit instruction;
• transitioning to a Commit operating state;
• making any changes to the cache line visible to other processors in the computing system;
• transitioning the cache line from one of the plurality of transactional states to the conventional MESI protocol;
• transitioning to the Normal operating state upon making changes to the cache line visible to other processors and performing the cache line transition.

A computer readable medium including code for performing memory operations in a computing system, the code operable to:

• receive an instruction to access a memory location while in a Normal operating state;
• transition to a Transaction operating state in response to the instruction;
• transition a cache line associated with the memory location from a conventional MESI coherency protocol to one of a plurality of transactional coherency states associated with the Transaction operating state;
• perform updates to the cache line associated with the memory location, the updates to the cache line not being visible to other processors in the computing system;
• receive a commit instruction;
• transition to a Commit operating state;
• make any changes to the cache line visible to other processors in the computing system;
• transition the cache line from one of the plurality of transactional states to the conventional MESI protocol;
• transition to the Normal operating state upon making changes to the cache line visible to other processors and performing the cache line transition.