Module 9: Addendum to Module 6: Shared Memory Multiprocessors
  Lecture 17: Multiprocessor Organizations and Cache Coherence
 


Shared Memory Multiprocessors

  • What do they look like?
    • We will assume that each processor has a hierarchy of caches (possibly shared)
    • We will not discuss shared memory in a time-shared single-thread computer
  • A degenerate case of the following
    • Shared cache (popular in CMPs)
    • Private cache (popular in CMPs and SMPs)
    • Dancehall (popular in old computers)
    • Distributed shared memory (popular in medium to large-scale servers)

Shared Cache