Scaling processing performance beyond the frequency and power envelope of single core systems has led to the emergence of multi-core clusters. Data access management within such processing systems becomes essential to ensure behavioral consistency. One solution to provide access consistency is the application of a memory coherence model such as MESI or MOESI within the L1 data cache hierarchy. For the MIPS Technologies MIPS32® 1004K™ Coherent Processing System (CPS), we applied Open Core Protocol (OCP) point-to-point connectivity to establish snoop-based coherence throughout the cluster. Following are principles of this communication model.
September 28, 2011