Patent ID: 6295584
Filing Date: 2001-09-25
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
In a multiprocessor computer system having a shared memory distributed among multiple nodes, a method of accessing a memory location on one node that shares the same physical memory address as a memory location on another node, the method comprising:providing a memory map for a single-node environment, the memory map uniquely identifying all physical memory addresses in the computer system by assigning unique representative physical memory addresses to memory locations that share a physical memory address and actual physical memory addresses to memory locations that do not share a physical memory address;providing a memory map for a multinode environment in which an actual physical memory address is shared by memory locations on at least two nodes;generating a memory access request with a representative physical memory address;determining from the representative physical memory address which node the address corresponds to;sending the memory access request to the indicated node; andat the indicated node, translating the representative physical memory address to an actual physical memory address in conformance with the memory map for the multinode environment, wherein the representative physical address has a first base portion and an index portion according to the memory map for the single-node environment and wherein the translating the representative physical memory address further includes replacing the first base portion with a second base portion according to the memory map for the multinode environment.