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:
Feb. 04, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 31, 1997
Roland Pang, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Gregory Mont Thornton, Aloha, OR (US);
Bryon George Conley, Aloha, OR (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for indexing a cache includes searching on a cache index using a partial physical address, the partial physical address including any bits of the virtual address which are untranslated between the virtual address and the physical address. The partial physical address is used to identify a block of the cache index sets that might contain an address of requested data. The identification is performed prior to translation of the virtual address to the physical address. Once identified, the block is read out into an auxiliary memory structure. After the full physical address becomes available, the block is multiplexed down to one set, and a compare is performed on the ways of the set to determine if the requested data is in the cache and, if so, which way the data is in. A device for achieving the method includes a cache index organized into two arrays, each having a number of sets and a number of ways. One of the arrays may used to store micro-tags for way prediction. In addition, the device includes an auxiliary memory structure for receiving and storing intermediate search results.