Facilitating concurrent non-transactional execution in a transactional memory system

A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method to facilitate concurrent non-transactional operations in a transactional memory system, the method comprising:

• receiving a load instruction related to a local transaction;
• determining if an entry for the memory location addressed by the load instruction already exists in a transaction buffer;
• if so, returning the data from a data field in the entry in the transaction buffer to complete the load instruction;
• if not,
• allocating an entry for the memory location in the transaction buffer,
• reading data for the load instruction from a cache, and
• storing the data in the data field in the allocated entry in the transaction buffer;
• and
• returning the data to complete the load instruction;
• wherein if a remote non-transactional store instruction directed to the memory location is received during the local transaction, the remote non-transactional store proceeds and does not cause the local transaction to abort.

A computer system that facilitates concurrent non-transactional operations in a transactional memory system, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory controller;
• a receiving mechanism in the memory controller configured to receive a load instruction from the processor related to a local transaction;
• a determining mechanism configured to determine if an entry for the memory location addressed by the load instruction already exists in a transaction buffer;
• an allocating mechanism configured to allocate an entry for the memory location in the transaction buffer;
• a reading mechanism in the memory controller configured to read data for the load instruction from a cache;
• a storing mechanism configured to store the data in a data field in the allocated entry in the transaction buffer;
• and a data-returning mechanism in the memory controller configured to return the data to the processor to complete the load instruction;
• wherein if a remote non-transactional store instruction directed to the memory location is received by the receiving mechanism during the local transaction, the remote non-transactional store proceeds and does not cause the local transaction to abort.