Patent ID: 8751747

Claim:
A method for managing cache memory, wherein consecutive instruction fetches of instructions of an instruction stream to a cache line do not upgrade cache replacement status for the cache line, comprising: receiving, on a cache control, an instruction fetch for an instruction of an instruction stream, the instruction fetch including an instruction fetch reference tag for the instruction stream and the instruction stream is at least partially included within a cache line, the instruction fetch reference tag distinguishing the instruction stream from another instruction stream; comparing the instruction fetch reference tag to a previous instruction fetch reference tag currently associated with the cache line; maintaining a cache replacement status of the cache line, the cache replacement status comprising a least recently used (LRU) status or an intermediate status between the LRU status and a most recently used (MRU) status, based on the instruction fetch reference tag being the same as the previous instruction fetch reference tag; and upgrading the cache replacement status of the cache line to the MRU status based on the instruction fetch reference tag being different from the previous instruction fetch reference tag.