Patent ID: 8924647

Claim:
A method of managing data replacement in a multi-level cache, comprising: selecting, in accordance with a selection process, one of multiple data replacement protocols for evicting data from the multi-level cache, wherein the selection process has a biasing that is adjustable to change the probability of selecting any of the data replacement protocols relative to the others; evicting data from each level of the multi-level cache using the selected data replacement protocol; detecting a hit rate of the multi-level cache in response to the selected data replacement protocol; and adjusting the biasing of the selection process, in response to the detected hit rate of the multi-level cache after selecting the selected data replacement protocol, to vary the probability that the selected data replacement protocol will later be selected according to the selection process when subsequently selecting one of the data replacement protocols for evicting data from the multi-level cache, wherein detecting a hit rate of the multi-level cache includes detecting the hit rate of each cache level of the multi-level cache individually, wherein adjusting the biasing of the selection process includes applying a reward to the selected data replacement protocol, and wherein the reward applied is greater when detecting that the hit rate of a higher level of the multi-level cache increases than when detecting that the hit rate of a lower level of the multi-level cache increases by the same amount.