Hybrid cache architecture with disparate memory technologies

Caching techniques have been an efficient mechanism for mitigating the effects of the processor-memory speed gap. Traditional multi-level SRAM-based cache hierarchies, especially in the context of chip multiprocessors (CMPs), present many challenges in area requirements, core–to–cache balance, power consumption, and design complexity. New advancements in technology enable caches to be built from other technologies, such as Embedded DRAM (EDRAM), Magnetic RAM (MRAM), and Phase-change RAM (PRAM), in both 2D chips or 3D stacked chips. Caches fabricated in these technologies offer dramatically different power and performance characteristics when compared with SRAMbased caches, particularly in the areas of access latency, cell density, and overall power consumption. In this paper, we propose to take advantage of the best characteristics that each technology offers, through the use of Hybrid Cache Architecture (HCA) designs. We discuss and evaluate two types of hybrid cache architec...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: ISCA
• Authors: Xiaoxia Wu, Jian Li, Lixin Zhang, Evan Speight, Ramakrishnan Rajamony, Yuan Xie
• Keywords: Cache, Hardware, Hybrid Cache Architectures, ISCA 2009, Power Consumption