Comparative evaluation of multi-core cache occupancy strategies

Intelligent sharing cache space among multiple cores on a Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) has become an important research topic. There are many design options to trade off and many possible performance metrics to evaluate. It generally requires costly simulations to gain insights over a wide-spectrum of cache sharing and partitioning methods. In this paper, we use an efficient single-pass stack simulation method to understand the effectiveness of cache sharing through natural competition (i. e. shared cache) and through static or dynamic cache partitioning, such as equal partition, utility-based partition, etc. The results demonstrate that cache occupancy through natural competition favors the core with more frequently misses. It may take away the needed space for other cores and increase the overall miss ratio. Furthermore, we find that the existing cache partitioning schemes based on fixed-length portioning phases may not be optimal compared with the scheme that allows variable phase lengths.