Granted Patent B2

US 12,436,890 · App. 18/336,694 · Granted Oct 7, 2025

Inventors: Jason Lawrence Panavich (Raleigh, NC); Eric Francis Robinson (Raleigh, NC)

Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

G06F12/0828G06F2212/621

Abstract

Claims (63)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a request from an agent for accessing a coherence granule (cogran) and for allocating an agent ID to one of a plurality of SFT entries in a snoop filter (SFT);

performing a tag lookup function for a tag of the cogran in the SFT to find a matched SFT entry, wherein the matched SFT entry is tracking the tag of the cogran;

determining the number n of agents being tracked by the matched SFT entry;

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched entry is above a threshold, storing a DVT index in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry, wherein the DVT index selects a DVT entry in a disaggregated vector table (DVT), wherein the selected DVT entry is configured to hold a tracking vector for tracking the agents that have cached the cogran for the matched SFT entry;

and in response to storing a DVT index in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry changing a value of a tracking_mode field of the matched SFT entry to DVT.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched SFT is below a threshold, storing an agent ID (AID) of the agent accessing the cogran in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising changing a valid bit corresponding to the agent accessing the cogran in the DVT entry's tracking vector to valid.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

calculating an error correction code (ECC) of a DVT entry;

comparing the calculated ECC with the matching a value of a protection field of the DVT entry; and

in response to determining that the calculated ECC does not match the value of a protection field of the DVT entry, changing a value the tracking_mode field of the matched SFT entry to IMPRECISE.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched entry is above a threshold, determining if a DVT entry is available;

in response to determining that a DVT entry is not available, setting the SFT entry's tracking_mode to IMPRECISE; and

in response to determining that a DVT entry is available, setting the SFT entry's tracking_mode to DVT.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched entry is above a threshold, determining if a DVT entry is available; and

in response to determining that a DVT entry is available:

setting the SFT entry's tracking mode to DVT, and

replacing one or more AIDs of the tracking_info field with the DVT index.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that an agent needs to be removed from an SFT entry;

in response to determining that an agent needs to be removed from an SFT entry, determining if the SFT entry's tracking mode is DVT;

in response to determining that the SFT entry's tracking mode is DVT:

reading a precise tracking vector from a DVT entry associated with the SFT entry, and

clearing the read DVT entry's tracking vector bit position corresponding to the agent being removed from the SFT entry.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining if any precise tracking vector bit is still set in the DVT entry associated with the SFT entry and if no precise tracking vector bit is still set in the DVT entry associated with the SFT entry returning the DVT entry to a free-list of available DVT entries.

9. One or more tangible physically manufactured computer-readable storage media, encoding computer-executable instructions for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

receiving a request from an agent for accessing a coherence granule (cogran) and for allocating an agent ID to one of a plurality of SFT entries in a snoop filter (SFT);

performing a tag lookup function for a tag of the cogran in the SFT to find a matched SFT entry, wherein the matched SFT entry is tracking the tag of the cogran;

determining the number n of agents being tracked by the matched SFT entry;

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched entry is above a threshold, storing a DVT index in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry, wherein the DVT index selects a DVT entry in a disaggregated vector table (DVT), wherein the selected DVT entry is configured to hold a tracking vector for tracking the agents that have cached the cogran for the matched SFT entry;

and in response to storing a DVT index in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry changing a value of a tracking_mode field of the matched SFT entry to DVT.

10. The one or more tangible physically manufactured computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the computer process further comprising:

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched SFT is below a threshold, storing an agent ID (AID) of the agent accessing the cogran in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry.

11. The one or more tangible physically manufactured computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the computer process further comprising changing a valid bit corresponding to the agent accessing the cogran in the DVT entry's tracking vector to valid.

12. The one or more tangible physically manufactured computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the computer process further comprising:

calculating an error correction code (ECC) of a DVT entry;

comparing the calculated ECC with the matching a value of a protection field of the DVT entry; and

in response to determining that the calculated ECC does not match the value of a protection field of the DVT entry, changing a value the tracking_mode field of the matched SFT entry to IMPRECISE.

13. The one or more tangible physically manufactured computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the computer process further comprising:

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched entry is above a threshold, determining if a DVT entry is available;

in response to determining that a DVT entry is not available, setting the SFT entry's tracking_mode to IMPRECISE; and

in response to determining that a DVT entry is available, setting the SFT entry's tracking_mode to DVT.

14. The one or more tangible physically manufactured computer-readable storage media of claim 9 , wherein the computer process further comprising:

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched entry is above a threshold, determining if a DVT entry is available; and

in response to determining that a DVT entry is available:

setting the SFT entry's tracking mode to DVT, and

replacing one or more AIDs of the tracking_info field with the DVT index.

15. A system comprising:

memory;

one or more processor units; and

a cache coherence system stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processor units, the cache coherence system encoding computer-executable instructions on the memory for executing on the one or more processor units a computer process, the computer process comprising:

receiving a request from an agent for accessing a coherence granule (cogran) and for allocating an agent ID to one of a plurality of SFT entries in a snoop filter (SFT);

performing a tag lookup function for a tag of the cogran in the SFT to find a matched SFT entry, wherein the matched SFT entry is tracking the tag of the cogran;

determining the number n of agents being tracked by the matched SFT entry;

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched entry is above a threshold, storing a DVT index in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry, wherein the DVT index selects a DVT entry in a disaggregated vector table (DVT), wherein the selected DVT entry is configured to hold a tracking vector for tracking the agents that have cached the cogran for the matched SFT entry;

and in response to storing a DVT index in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry changing a value of a tracking_mode field of the matched SFT entry to DVT.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computer process further comprising:

in response to determining that the number n of agents being tracked by the matched SFT is below a threshold, storing an agent ID (AID) of the agent accessing the cogran in the tracking_info field of the matched SFT entry.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computer process further comprising changing a valid bit corresponding to the agent accessing the cogran in the DVT entry's tracking vector to valid.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (50)