摘要:
The invention relates to computer memory,systems in which the main memory is divided into sets, and a high speed cache or buffer memory is provided which holds four blocks of words from each set of the main memory. When a new block is to be written into the cache memory one of the old blocks must be displaced to make way for it, and this is done in accordance with an algorithm determining which of the blocks was least recently used. In the prior art this algorithm has required the storage in the high speed cache memory of four digits per block, that is to say, eight digits for the four blocks of each set, and this takes up a substantial part of the expensive high speed storage. The present invention reduces this requirement to only three digits for each set of four blocks. The up-date algorithm is shown in Figure 2. The blocks are regarded as being in two pairs, AB and CD; a first digit, digit 2 is set to 0 or 1 according to the pair in which the accessed block lies; the second digit is set to 0 or 1 if the block lies in one pair, CD, to indicate which block of that pair was accessed, and similarly the third digit, digit 0, is set to 0 or 1 when a block of the other pair AB is accessed. A degrade memory can be provided in which a digit is set to indicate a faulty block in the buffer. This digit is supplied to the comparator and to the age algorithm circuits of the buffer memory to prevent the faulty block being accessed and to force the age digits to a value such that the block will never be displaced into, or re-written from, main memory.
摘要:
A virtual memory address translation mechanism is provided for converting virtual memory addresses provided by a CPU into real memory addresses within page frames in a large hierachial memories wherein the real memory space is substantially smaller than the scope of the virtual memory. The conversion or translation mechanism includes a combined table in the memory which includes a first list covering the respective virtual address of each memory address (Inverted Page or IPT) and a second list connecting each of a plurality of hashed addresses with a predetermined initial virtual address of a linked group of virtual addresses, each of which when hashed produces the connected hashed address (Hashed Addressed Table, HAT). The system also has means for hashing a selected virtual address to produce a hashed address. Also included in apparatus for sequentially searching through the linked group of virtual addresses in the combined table until a selected virtual address is located as well as apparatus responsive to the location of a particular selected virtual address for accessing from the first list, the real memory address of the located virtual address.
摘要:
A host computer (10) is backed up by magnetic disk stores (14) which may be of different types having different track lengths. The host computer is conventionally coupled tothe disk stores by channels (12), a storage director (16) and disk control modules (18). A solid-state cache memory array (22) with an associated cache manager (22) are connected to the storage director for storing tracks of data likely to be required by the host computer. In order to provide efficient utilisation of the cache memory array (22) it is arranged in domains having a length which is substantially an integral multiple of all the different track lengths. The domains are assigned to the different classes of disk storage devices (14) and reallocation is effected from time to time on the basis of actual usage.
摘要:
A memory system comprises a pair of RAM buffer memories (22, 24) coupled to a CCD main memory (20) to provide high-speed memory access to the memory by a processing means. Each buffer memory has stored therein a page of data transferred from the CCD main memory. Comparison means (76, 78) included in the system compares the page address in a memory request with the page address, located in address registers, of the data stored in the buffer memories. If a comparison is found, the designated buffer memory is accessed for a read/write operation at the addressed memory location. If no comparison is found, circuits (72, 92, 134) using the requested page address transfer the page in which the requested address is located from the CCD main memory to a RAM buffer memory for access by the processing means; the buffer memory to which the page is transferred is the buffer memory that was not accessed in the immediately preceding memory request. If a write operation had occured on a page stored in the buffer memories, the altered page is transferred back to the CCD main memory before a new page of data is transferred to the buffer memory.
摘要:
A shared memory computer method and apparatus having a plurality of sources (S u-S u, a memory manager (20), and memory units (U u-U u) in which the memory locations of data items are randomly distributed. The memory manager (420) includes a translation module (425) for locating data items in the memory units and a temporary storage buffer (Q u-Q u) for storing at least a portion of messages between sources and the memory units with respect to data items.