Apparatus, system and method for adaptive cache replacement in a non-volatile main memory system

A method comprising:

• determining a value of a performance metric based on writes to a non-volatile memory during an enforcement of a replacement policy, wherein the non-volatile memory and a cache memory are each to store respective data for access by one or more processors, the replacement policy defining a sequence of evaluations each to detect for a cache line to be evicted;
• performing a comparison of the value of the performance metric to a reference value specifying for the replacement policy a predetermined threshold number of stalled accesses;
• updating the replacement policy based on the comparison, including updating, for each of multiple evaluations of the sequence, a respective parameter value of the evaluation indicating a threshold number of dirty sectors or a threshold number of valid sectors;
• and
• generating a signal indicating an update to the replacement policy, wherein, based on the signal, a line of the cache memory is selected according to the replacement policy for an eviction.

A computer system comprising:

• one or more processor cores;
• a cache memory and a non-volatile memory each to store respective data for access by the one or more processors;
• a policy unit including:
• evaluation logic comprising circuitry configured to determine a value of a performance metric based on writes to the non-volatile memory during an enforcement of a replacement policy defining a sequence of evaluations each to detect for a cache line to be evicted;
• and
• policy parameter logic comprising circuitry configured to perform a comparison of the value of the performance metric to a reference value specifying for the replacement policy a predetermined threshold number of stalled accesses, the policy parameter logic to update the replacement policy based on the comparison, including the policy parameter logic to update, for each of multiple evaluations of the sequence, a respective parameter value of the evaluation indicating a threshold number of dirty sectors or a threshold number of valid sectors, the policy unit further to generate a signal indicating an update to the replacement policy;
• and
• a cache replacement unit coupled to the policy unit, the cache replacement unit to select a line of the cache memory for an eviction, wherein the line is selected according to the replacement policy based on the signal.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to perform a method comprising:

• determining a value of a performance metric based on writes to a non-volatile memory during an enforcement of a replacement policy, wherein the non-volatile memory and a cache memory are each to store respective data for access by one or more processors, the replacement policy defining a sequence of evaluations each to detect for a cache line to be evicted;
• performing a comparison of the value of the performance metric to a reference value specifying for the replacement policy a predetermined threshold number of stalled accesses;
• updating the replacement policy based on the comparison, including updating, for each of multiple evaluations of the sequence, a respective parameter value of the evaluation indicating a threshold number of dirty sectors or a threshold number of valid sectors;
• and
• generating a signal indicating an update to the replacement policy, wherein, based on the signal, a line of the cache memory is selected according to the replacement policy for an eviction.