Patent ID: 6549997
Filing Date: 2003-04-15
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A translation look-aside buffer for translating received virtual addresses into physical addresses in a variable page size memory having N page sizes wherein N is an integer greater than 1, the translation look-aside buffer comprising:a content addressable memory for storing virtual address tags and for matching the received virtual addresses to the address tags to thereby generate CAM match signals each referencing a page table entry; and plural page table entries coupled to the content addressable memory for targeted action based on the CAM match signal, each page table entry storing physical address data corresponding to respective virtual address data and comprising: a plurality of first-type memory cells grouped into Nâˆ’1 cell groups, each first-type memory cell storing a single physical address bit; and Nâˆ’1 second-type memory cells, each second-type memory cell coupled to a cell group and storing size-field data associated with the coupled cell group, the physical address data stored in the coupled cell group being output responsive to the size-field data is in a first state, and received virtual address bits corresponding to the coupled cell group being output responsive to the size-field data is in a second state.