The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 20, 1999
Filed:
Jan. 09, 1998
Erik Hagersten, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Robert C Zak, Jr, Lexington, MA (US);
Sun Microsystems, Inc., Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a hybrid Non-Uniform Memory Architecture (NUMA) and Cache-Only Memory Architecture (COMA) caching architecture together with a cache-coherent protocol for a computer system having a plurality of sub-systems coupled to each other via a system interconnect. In one implementation, each sub-system includes at least one processor, a page-oriented COMA cache and a line-oriented hybrid NUMA/COMA cache. Such a hybrid system provides flexibility and efficiency in caching both large and small, and/or sparse and packed data structures. Each sub-system is able to independently store data in COMA mode or in NUMA mode. When caching in COMA mode, a sub-system allocates a page of memory space and then stores the data within the allocated page in its COMA cache. Depending on the implementation, while caching in COMA mode, the sub-system may also store the same data in its hybrid cache for faster access. Conversely, when caching in NUMA mode, the sub-system stores the data, typically a line of data, in its hybrid cache.