| 摘要 |
A data processing apparatus has address translation circuitry which is responsive to an access request specifying a virtual address, to perform a multi-stage address translation process to produce, via at least one intermediate address, a physical address in memory corresponding to the virtual address. The address translation circuitry references a storage unit, with each entry of the storage unit storing address translation information for one or more virtual addresses. Each entry has a field indicating whether the address translation information is consolidated address translation information or partial address translation information. If when processing an access request, it is determined that the relevant entry in the storage unit provides consolidated address translation information, the address translation circuitry produces a physical address directly from the consolidated address translation information. If on the other hand the relevant entry stores partial address translation information, the address translation circuitry produces an intermediate address from the partial address translation information and then performs the remainder of the multi-stage address translation process. Such an approach provides the performance benefits associated with a consolidated entry mechanism within the storage unit, while also allowing certain problem cases to be handled correctly and in an efficient manner. |
