A cache coherence scheme with fast selective invalidation

Software-assisted cache coherence enforcement schemes for large multiprocessor systems with shared global memory and interconnection network have gained increasing attenuation. The authors propose a new solution that offers the fast operation of the indiscriminate invalidation approach and can selectively invalidate cache items without extensive run-time book-keeping and checking. The solution relies on the combination of compile-time reference tagging and individual invalidation of potentially stale cache lines only when referenced. Performance improvement over an indiscriminate invalidation approach is presented