Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Cache Coherence

    Uploaded by

    Krishna Bajpai
    52 views14 pages
    1. The document discusses cache coherence mechanisms, specifically snoopy protocols and directory protocols. Snoopy protocols use a shared bus to allow processors to observe memory transactions, while directory protocols use a multistage network and directory to track shared data. 2. For snoopy protocols, the document describes write-invalidate and write-update policies. It also discusses limitations of snoopy protocols including heavy bus traffic. 3. For directory protocols, the document explains that a directory acts as a lookup table to identify coherence and consistency of shared data. It maintains information on shared data locations to avoid broadcasting.

    Original Description:

    Computer architecture

    Original Title

    Cache coherence

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    1. The document discusses cache coherence mechanisms, specifically snoopy protocols and directory protocols. Snoopy protocols use a shared bus to allow processors to observe memory transactions, while directory protocols use a multistage network and directory to track shared data. 2. For snoopy protocols, the document describes write-invalidate and write-update policies. It also discusses limitations of snoopy protocols including heavy bus traffic. 3. For directory protocols, the document explains that a directory acts as a lookup table to identify coherence and consistency of shared data. It maintains information on shared data locations to avoid broadcasting.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    52 views14 pages

    Cache Coherence

    Uploaded by

    Krishna Bajpai
    1. The document discusses cache coherence mechanisms, specifically snoopy protocols and directory protocols. Snoopy protocols use a shared bus to allow processors to observe memory transactions, while directory protocols use a multistage network and directory to track shared data. 2. For snoopy protocols, the document describes write-invalidate and write-update policies. It also discusses limitations of snoopy protocols including heavy bus traffic. 3. For directory protocols, the document explains that a directory acts as a lookup table to identify coherence and consistency of shared data. It maintains information on shared data locations to avoid broadcasting.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 14

    Module-4

    CSEN 3104
    Lecture 32
    31/10/2019

    Dr. Debranjan Sarkar


    Cache Coherence
    Cache coherence mechanisms
    • Two protocol approaches

    • Shared bus: Snoopy protocol

    • Other interconnection schemes: Directory protocol


    Cache coherence mechanisms:
    Snoopy Protocol
    • Early multiprocessors used bus-based memory systems
    • Bus allows all the processors to observe ongoing memory
    transactions
    • If a bus transaction threatens the consistent state of a locally cached
    object, the cache controller can invalidate the local copy
    • Protocols using this mechanism to ensure coherence is called Snoopy
    Protocol
    • Each processor tracks sharing status of each block
    Snoopy Bus Protocol
    • Snoopy protocols achieve data consistency between the cache memory
    and the shared memory through a bus-based memory system.
    • Policies used for maintaining cache consistency:
    • Write-invalidate
    • Write-update
    • ‘Write Invalidate’ policy will invalidate all remote copies when a local cache
    block is updated
    • ‘Write Update’ policy will broadcast the new data block to all caches
    containing a copy of the block
    • We have three processors P1, P2, and Pn having a consistent copy of data
    element ‘X’ in their local cache memory and in the shared memory (Fig. a)
    Snoopy Bus Protocol
    • Processor P1 writes X’ in its cache memory using write-invalidate protocol
    • So, all other copies are invalidated via the bus, denoted by ‘I’ (Fig. b)
    • Invalidated blocks are also known as dirty, i.e. they should not be used
    • The write-update protocol updates all the cache copies via the bus through
    broadcast mechanism
    • The memory copy is also updated, if write-through caches are used (Fig. c)
    • The memory copy is updated later at block replacement time, in case of
    write-back caches
    Disadvantages of Snoopy Bus Protocols
    • Write-invalidate protocol may lead to heavy bus traffic, caused by
    read-misses, resulting from the processor updating a variable and
    other processors trying to read the same variable
    • Write-update protocol may update data items in remote caches which
    will never be used by other processors
    • These problems pose additional limitations in using buses to build
    large multiprocessors
    Cache coherence mechanisms:
    Directory Based Protocols
    • To overcome the limitations of using bus in building large (scalable)
    multiprocessor system, multistage network is used to interconnect
    processors
    • Unlike the bus-based system, the bandwidth of these networks increases
    as more processors are added to the system
    • Broadcasting is very expensive in a multistage network
    • Hence, the consistency commands is sent only to those caches that keep a
    copy of the block
    • Such networks do not have a convenient snooping mechanism and do not
    provide an efficient broadcast capability
    • This is the reason for development of directory-based protocols for
    network-connected multiprocessors to solve the cache coherence problem
    Directory based Protocols
    • Sharing status of each block kept in one location
    • In a directory-based protocol system, data to be shared are placed in
    a common directory that maintains the coherence among the caches.
    • Here, the directory acts as a filter where the processors ask
    permission to load an entry from the primary memory to its cache
    memory.
    • If an entry is changed the directory either updates it or invalidates the
    other caches with that entry.
    Directory based Protocols
    • Directory based protocols have a main directory containing
    information on shared data across processor caches
    • The directory works as a look-up table for each processor to identify
    coherence and consistency of data which is currently being updated
    • A directory-based protocol is a smart way of implementing cache
    consistency on an arbitrary interconnection network
    • While the resulting protocol is complex, it is indeed tractable
    • Moreover, the hardware needed to implement such a protocol is
    quite reasonable for the scale of machine in which it is expected to be
    used
    Directory based Protocols
    • Various directory-based protocols differ mainly in:
    • how the directory maintains information, and
    • what information it stores
    • Central Directory based protocol
    • Uses a central directory which contains duplicates of all cache directories
    • The central directory provides all the information to enforce consistency
    • It is usually very large in size
    • Must be associatively searched
    • Chance of bottleneck
    • Drawbacks for a large multiprocessor system:
    • Contention, and
    • Long search time
    Directory based Protocols
    • Distributed Directory based protocol
    • Each memory module maintains a separate directory
    • Each directory records the state and presence information for each memory block
    • The state information is local
    • The presence information indicates which caches have a copy of the block
    • Bottleneck is avoided
    • Directory based protocols do not use broadcasts
    • So, the locations of all cached copies of each block of shared data must have to stored
    • The list of cache locations is called a cache directory
    • It may be centralized or distributed
    • A directory entry for each block of data contains a number of pointers to specify the
    locations of copies of the block
    • Each directory entry also contains a dirty bit to specify whether a particular cache has
    permissions to write the associated block of data
    A few References and Bibliography
    • Computer Architecture and Organization by John P. Hayes,
    (WCB/McGraw Hill)
    • Advanced Computer Architecture: Parallelism, Scalability,
    Programmability by Kai Hwang & Naresh Jotwani (Tata McGraw Hill
    Education Pvt. Ltd.)
    • Computer Architecture and Parallel Processing by Kai Hwang & Faye
    A. Briggs (McGraw Hill Book Company)
    Thank you

    You might also like