Patent ID: 6266755
Filing Date: 2001-07-24
Classification: G06F,G11C

Abstract:
In a computer system having a set of translations for mapping pages of virtual memory to pages of physical memory, the computer system having an apparatus for storing a subset of the set of translations, said apparatus comprising:a plurality of entries, each entry comprising:a storage space to store a first translation comprising a virtual translation page and a physical translation page, said virtual translation page corresponding to said physical translation page,a comparator to receive a virtual address to be mapped, said virtual address comprising a virtual page portion and a virtual offset portion, said virtual page portion comprising of higher bits of said virtual address and said virtual offset portion comprising of lower bits of said virtual address, said comparator comparing said virtual page portion with said virtual translation page and outputting said physical translation page corresponding to said virtual translation portion when said virtual page portion equals said virtual translation page, anda switch for setting and resetting said entry with which it is associated, said comparator being enabled when said switch is in the set state and disabled when said switch is in the reset state, said switch being set when said entry is loaded with said first translation and reset during a loading operation of a second translation when a portion of said first translation matches a portion of said second translation, said second translation being loaded subsequent to said first translation in a different entry thereby preventing simultaneous selection of more than one entry.