Patent ID: 8151055

Claim:
A data processing apparatus said data processing apparatus comprising: (i) at least one data processor for processing data; (ii) a set associative cache for storing values to be processed by said data processor, each value being identified by an address of a memory location within a memory storing said value, said set associative cache being divided into a plurality of cache ways; (iii) a data store comprising a plurality of storage locations for storing a plurality of identifiers, each identifier identifying a cache way that a corresponding value from said set associative cache is stored in and each having a valid indicator associated therewith, said plurality of identifiers corresponding to a plurality of values, said plurality of values being values stored in consecutive addresses such that said data store stores identifiers for values stored in a region of said memory; (iv) a current pointer store for storing a current pointer pointing to a most recently accessed storage location in said data store; (v) offset determining circuitry responsive to a cache access request to determine an offset of an address of said cache access request to an immediately preceding cache access request, said offset determining circuitry being adapted to update said current pointer by said offset amount; and (vi) data store lookup circuitry for determining from a size of said data store and said offset if said updated current pointer is pointing to an address within said region and if so said data processor is adapted to identify said cache way from said stored identifier pointed to by said current pointer if it has a valid indicator associated with it.