Computer system with integrated directory and processor cache

• Main Author: CONWAY, PATRICK
• Format: Patent
• Language: Chinese; English
• Published: 01.07.2009
• Subjects: CALCULATING; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION ANDCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION ANDCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THIR OWNENERGY USE; COMPUTING; COUNTING; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; PHYSICS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE

A computer system with an integrated directory and processor cache. Directory entries are maintained to filter probe command and response traffic for certain coherent transactions. Rather than storing directory entries in a dedicated directory storage, directory entries may be stored in designated locations of cache memory subsystem, such as an L2 cache, associated with a processor core. In one particular implementation, directory entries are stored within the cache memory subsystem to provide indications of lines (or blocks) that may be cached in modified, exclusive, or owned coherency states. The absence of a directory entry for a particular line may imply that the line is cached in either shared or invalid states.