COMPRESSOR STALL AVOIDANCE MECHANISM

摘要

In a processing system having a main memory wherein information is stored in a compressed format for the purpose of gaining additional storage through compression efficiencies, a method and apparatus for enabling termination of a pending compression operation for the purpose of writing the data directly to the main memory, bypassing the compressor hardware during stall conditions. Memory space (compressibility) is sacrificed for higher system performance during these temporary write back stall events. A background memory scrub later detects and recovers the "lost" compressibility by recycling the uncompressed data back through the compressor during idle periods.