发明名称 |
GLOBAL MODIFIED INDICATOR TO REDUCE POWER CONSUMPTION ON CACHE MISS |
摘要 |
A processor includes a cache memory having at least one entry managed according to a copy-back algorithm. A global modified indicator (GMI) indicates whether any copy-back entry in the cache contains modified data. On a cache miss, if the GMI indicates that no copy-back entry in the cache contains modified data, data fetched from memory are written to the selected entry without first reading the entry. In a banked cache, two or more bank-GMIs may be associated with two or more banks. In an n-way set associative cache, n set-GMIs may be associated with the n sets. Suppressing the read to determine if the copy-back cache entry contains modified data improves processor performance and reduces power consumption. |
申请公布号 |
EP1869557(A2) |
申请公布日期 |
2007.12.26 |
申请号 |
EP20060739774 |
申请日期 |
2006.03.23 |
申请人 |
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED |
发明人 |
SARTORIUS, THOMAS, ANDREW;AUGSBURG, VICTOR, ROBERTS;DIEFFENDERFER, JAMES, NORRIS |
分类号 |
G06F12/08;G06F12/0804 |
主分类号 |
G06F12/08 |
代理机构 |
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代理人 |
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主权项 |
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地址 |
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