Title :
The cache architecture of the Apollo DN4000
Author :
Frink, Craig R. ; Roy, Paul J.
Author_Institution :
Apollo Comput. Inc., Chelmsford, MA, USA
fDate :
Feb. 29 1988-March 3 1988
Abstract :
The authors examine the cache architecture of the Apollo DN4000 workstation, which utilizes a virtual cache to provide a cost-effective approach to high-performance computing. Of particular interest is how the use of a virtually tagged, write-through cache made it possible to use a low-cost, off-the-shelf MMU (memory-management unit) and resulted in inclusion of a virtual write buffer. This architecture enables the processor to execute zero wait-state memory reads and writes. It is shown how the way that objects are accessed in Apollo´s system led to a write-allocate cache update policy to solve the virtual address synonym problem.<>
Keywords :
buffer storage; computer architecture; virtual storage; workstations; Apollo DN4000 workstation; cache architecture; memory-management unit; off-the-shelf MMU; virtual address synonym problem; virtual cache; virtual write buffer; virtually tagged; write-allocate cache update policy; write-through cache; zero wait-state memory reads and writes; Cache memory; Computer architecture; Coprocessors; Memory architecture; Memory management; Microprocessors; Read-write memory; Trademarks; Workstations;
Conference_Titel :
Compcon Spring '88. Thirty-Third IEEE Computer Society International Conference, Digest of Papers
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-0828-5
DOI :
10.1109/CMPCON.1988.4878
