Patent ID: 11397680

Abstract:
A technique is provided for controlling eviction from a storage structure. An apparatus has a storage structure with a plurality of entries to store data. The apparatus also has eviction control circuitry configured to maintain eviction control information in accordance with an eviction policy, the eviction policy specifying how the eviction control information is to be updated in response to accesses to the entries of the storage structure. The eviction control circuitry is responsive to a victim selection event to employ the eviction policy to select, with reference to the eviction control information, one of the entries to be a victim entry whose data is to be discarded from the storage structure. The eviction control circuitry is further configured to maintain, for each of one or more groups of entries in the storage structure, an indication of a most-recent entry. The most-recent entry is an entry in that group that was most recently subjected to at least a given type of access. For each group, in response to an access to a given entry of that group other than the most-recent entry for that group, the eviction control circuitry is configured to update the eviction control information according to the eviction policy. However, in response to an access to the most-recent entry for that group, the eviction control circuitry is configured to prevent an update to at least the eviction control information associated with the most-recent entry.