Abstract: At a first cache memory affiliated with a first processor core, an exclusive memory access operation is received via an interconnect fabric coupling the first cache memory to second and third cache memories respectively affiliated with second and third processor cores. The exclusive memory access operation specifies a target address. In response to receipt of the exclusive memory access operation, the first cache memory detects presence or absence of a source indication indicating that the exclusive memory access operation originated from the second cache memory to which the first cache memory is coupled by a private communication network to which the third cache memory is not coupled. In response to detecting presence of the source indication, a coherency state field of the first cache memory that is associated with the target address is updated to a first data-invalid state.

Abstract: In response to a master receiving a memory access request indicating a target address, the master accesses a first cache directory of an upper level cache of a cache hierarchy. In response to the target address being associated in the first cache directory with an entry having a valid address tag and a first invalid coherency state, the master issues a request specifying the target address on an interconnect fabric without regard to a coherency state associated with the target address in a second cache directory of a lower level cache of the cache hierarchy. In response to the target address having a second invalid coherency state with respect to the first cache directory, the master issues a request specifying the target address on an interconnect fabric after determining a coherency state associated with the target address in the second cache directory of the lower level cache of the cache hierarchy.

Abstract: We present a “directory extension” (hereinafter “DX”) to aid in prefetching between proximate levels in a cache hierarchy. The DX may maintain (1) a list of pages which contains recently ejected lines from a given level in the cache hierarchy, and (2) for each page in this list, the identity of a set of ejected lines, provided these lines are prefetchable from, for example, the next level of the cache hierarchy. Given a cache fault to a line within a page in this list, other lines from this page may then be prefetched without the substantial overhead to directory lookup which would otherwise be required.

Abstract: A computer cache memory having at least two levels includes associativity sets allocated to congruence groups, each congruence group having multiple associativity sets (preferably two) in the higher level cache and multiple associativity sets (preferably three) in the lower level cache. The address range of an associativity set in the higher level cache is distributed among all the associativity sets in the lower level cache within the same congruence group, so that these lower level associativity sets are effectively shared by all associativity sets in the same congruence group in the higher level. The lower level cache is preferably a victim cache of the higher level cache. This sharing of lower level associativity sets by different associativity sets in the higher level effectively increases the associativity of the lower level to hold cast-outs of a hot associativity set in the upper level.