Patent ID: 6931510

Claim:
A method for maintaining translation lookaside buffer (“TLB”) coherency in a computer system having a plurality of processors, each of the processors having an associated TLB for storing address translation data, the system having a main communication network coupled to the plurality of processors, said method comprising: accessing a virtual address in a first TLB associated with one of the plurality of processors; performing an operation on the first TLB based on the accessed virtual address and a physical address corresponding to the accessed virtual address; generating a TLB message in response to a change in contents of the first TLB caused by the operation performed on the first TLB, the TLB message comprising an access request and at least one of the accessed virtual address and the corresponding physical address; sending the TLB message to the plurality of processors other than the processor associated with the first TLB via the main communication network; and determining, at each of the plurality of processors other than that associated with the first TLB, if the TLB message affects the address translation data stored in the associated TLB in response to receiving the TLB message wherein the operation causing a change in contents of the first TLB includes: inputting a first entry into the first TLB when a physical address corresponding to the virtual address is not located in the first TLB; moving a second entry from the first TLB to another location within the computer system, the second entry associated with a physical address corresponding to the virtual address; and removing a third entry from the first TLB, the third entry associated with a physical address corresponding to the virtual address.