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. 15, 2003
Filed:
May. 07, 2001
Josef Ezra, Ashland, MA (US);
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA (US);
Abstract
The invention features a method and a system for selecting a slot within a memory unit, e.g., cache, for removal. The memory unit is accessible to a plurality of processors, and each slot in the memory unit has a corresponding entry in an age table. Each time when a processor examines one of the entries, an age value of the entry is increased. When the age value is above a maturity age, the corresponding slot becomes a removable slot. Each processor also maintains statistics to estimate the number of removable slots in the memory unit. According to the statistics, adjusts a maturity age associated with the processor dynamically and independently to control the number of removable slots. Accordingly, the number removable slots can be maintained at a pre-determined percentage relative to the total number of slots in the memory unit.