In a multilevel cache system, the CPU first sends the memory request to level 1 cache. If
Question:
In a multilevel cache system, the CPU first sends the memory request to level 1 cache. If it is a cache hit, the data is transferred to the CPU. If it is a cache miss, the CPU will send the same memory request to level 2 cache. If it is still a cache miss there, the CPU will further send the memory request to lower level caches until a cache hit happens or memory access takes place.
A limitation of the preceding multilevel caching is that, even though a data block is cached in some lower level cache, the system still needs to endure all the time cost by the memory request going through all higher level caches with cache misses. Similarly, even if a data block is not cached, the CPU still sends memory request to one level of cache after another, taking likely a long time before accessing the memory.
Design a possible solution against the preceding limitation and show how it speeds up the average memory access time.
Computer Architecture A Quantitative Approach
ISBN: 978-0123704900
4th edition
Authors: John L. Hennessy, David A. Patterson