Patent ID: 6738864
Filing Date: 2004-05-18
Classification: G06F,Y02D

Abstract:
A method of operating a digital system having a cache with at least a first request port, the cache having a plurality of lines with an associated plurality of tags, the method comprising the steps of:receiving a first request for access to the cache at the first request port, wherein the request includes an address value representative of an address of a requested data and a first qualifier value; determining if data corresponding to the address value provided by first request is present in the cache by examining at least a first tag and corresponding qualifier field, indicating a hit if an address field of the first tag matches a portion of the address value provided by the first request and the corresponding qualifier field matches the first qualifier value provided by the first request, otherwise indicating a miss; upon determining a hit, granting access to data corresponding to the matching tag; upon determining a miss, recalling from a higher level memory data corresponding to the address of requested data, storing the data recalled from the higher level memory in the cache with a portion of the address of the first request forming a first tag and a qualifier field corresponding to the first qualifier value of the first request, thereafter granting access to the data; and responsive to a cache modification command specifying a second qualifier value modifying the contents of the cache qualified by the second qualifier value.