摘要 |
A method and apparatus for handling an accessed bit in a page table entry is provided. When a page table entry is not present in a translation lookaside buffer (TLB), an electrical circuit causes a TLB miss exception and branching to a first software exception handler. The first software exception handler fetches the page table entry from main memory. The first software exception handler places the page table entry in the TLB. An electrical circuit determines whether an accessed bit of the page table entry has not been asserted. If the accessed bit is not asserted, an electrical circuit causes an accessed bit exception and branches execution to a second software exception handler. The second software exception handler asserts the accessed bit in the page table entry in main memory. The second software exception handler returns control back to the original memory access, causing execution to resume where it had left off prior to the TLB miss exception. This process may be practiced for an upper-level page table entry or a lower level page table entry.
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