Apple Inc.
MANAGING SERIAL MISS REQUESTS FOR LOAD OPERATIONS IN A NON-COHERENT MEMORY SYSTEM

Abstract:

A system and method for efficiently forwarding cache misses to another level of the cache hierarchy. Logic in a cache controller receives a first non-cacheable load miss request and stores it in a miss queue. When the logic determines the target address of the first load miss request is within a target address range of an older pending second load miss request stored in the miss queue with an open merge window, the logic merges the two requests into a single merged miss request. Additional requests may be similarly merged. The logic issues the merged miss requests based on determining the merge window has closed. The logic further prevents any other load miss requests, which were not previously merged in the merged miss request before it was issued, from obtaining a copy of data from the returned fill data. Such prevention in a non-coherent memory computing system supports memory ordering.