Patent ID: 7934054
Filing Date: 2011-04-26
Classification: G06F,Y02D

Abstract:
1. A method for re-using at least a portion of a cache, the cache adapted for use with a processor, the method comprising: requesting the at least a portion of the cache to enter an alternative operational mode, the cache comprising a plurality of data entries and a plurality of tag entries, the tag entries in a one-to-one correspondence with the data entries, each of the data entries enabled to store a line of data, and each of the tag entries enabled to store a tag usable, at least in part, to identify any line of data stored in the corresponding data entry; archiving in a tag archive area, in response to the requesting, particular tags stored in at least some of the tag entries; operating, in response to the requesting, the at least a portion of the cache in accordance with the alternative operational mode; repopulating, after the act of operating, a subset of the tag entries from the tag archive area; and re-fetching into at least some of the data entries having correspondence with the subset of the repopulated tag entries, wherein the cache and the processor are implemented within one or more integrated circuits, wherein an order of the repopulating is determined based, at least in part, on a respectively likely-to-be-used-soon indicator of each of the particular tags, and wherein the likely-to-be-used-soon indicators are determined based, at least in part, on loading of the entries in response to misses in the cache due to accesses of the processor within a time interval after the repopulating.