Patent ID: 7330935

Claim:
A set associative cache system comprising: i groups of m ways and n sets of cache memories where i is a multiplier of 2 equal to or greater than 2, m and n are each a multiplier of 2 equal to or greater than 2; a set selecting section which selects all or one of said i groups of cache memories based on a cache address and cache management information, and selects a j-th set of cache memories in said selected cache memories according to said cache address where j is an integer not less than 1 but not greater than n; a way selecting section which selects a way based on said cache management information; a decision section which compares a block address of a cache block in said way selected by said way selecting section with a block address of a requested cache block, and decides whether there is a cache hit or a miss; and a replacement selecting section which selects a replacement block based on a decision result from said decision sections, wherein said set associative cache system functions as one of m ways and (i×n) sets set associative caches and (i×m) ways and n sets set associative caches, according to a number of systems executing in parallel.