This patch adds a parameter to the BaseCache to enable a read-only
cache, for example for the instruction cache, or table-walker cache
(not for x86). A number of checks are put in place in the code to
ensure a read-only cache does not end up with dirty data.
A follow-on patch adds suitable read requests to allow a read-only
cache to explicitly ask for clean data.
This patch adds eviction notices to the caches, to provide accurate
tracking of cache blocks in snoop filters. We add the CleanEvict
message to the memory heirarchy and use both CleanEvicts and
Writebacks with BLOCK_CACHED flags to propagate notice of clean and
dirty evictions respectively, down the memory hierarchy. Note that the
BLOCK_CACHED flag indicates whether there exist any copies of the
evicted block in the caches above the evicting cache.
The purpose of the CleanEvict message is to notify snoop filters of
silent evictions in the relevant caches. The CleanEvict message
behaves much like a Writeback. CleanEvict is a write and a request but
unlike a Writeback, CleanEvict does not have data and does not need
exclusive access to the block. The cache generates the CleanEvict
message on a fill resulting in eviction of a clean block. Before
travelling downwards CleanEvict requests generate zero-time snoop
requests to check if the same block is cached in upper levels of the
memory heirarchy. If the block exists, the cache discards the
CleanEvict message. The snoops check the tags, writeback queue and the
MSHRs of upper level caches in a manner similar to snoops generated
from HardPFReqs. Currently CleanEvicts keep travelling towards main
memory unless they encounter the block corresponding to their address
or reach main memory (since we have no well defined point of
serialisation). Main memory simply discards CleanEvict messages.
We have modified the behavior of Writebacks, such that they generate
snoops to check for the presence of blocks in upper level caches. It
is possible in our current implmentation for a lower level cache to be
writing back a block while a shared copy of the same block exists in
the upper level cache. If the snoops find the same block in upper
level caches, we set the BLOCK_CACHED flag in the Writeback message.
We have also added logic to account for interaction of other message
types with CleanEvicts waiting in the writeback queue. A simple
example is of a response arriving at a cache removing any CleanEvicts
to the same address from the cache's writeback queue.
Sometimes, we need to defer an express snoop in an MSHR, but the original
request might complete and deallocate the original pkt->req. In those cases,
create a copy of the request so that someone who is inspecting the delayed
snoop can also inspect the request still. All of this is rather hacky, but the
allocation / linking and general life-time management of Packet and Request is
rather tricky. Deleting the copy is another tricky area, testing so far has
shown that the right copy is deleted at the right time.
This patch takes a last step in fixing issues related to uncacheable
accesses. We do not separate uncacheable memory from uncacheable
devices, and in cases where it is really memory, there are valid
scenarios where we need to snoop since we do not support cache
maintenance instructions (yet). On snooping an uncacheable access we
thus provide data if possible. In essence this makes uncacheable
accesses IO coherent.
The snoop filter is also queried to steer the snoops, but not updated
since the uncacheable accesses do not allocate a block.
This patch ensures that we pass on information about a packet being
shared (rather than exclusive), when forwarding a packet downstream.
Without this patch there is a risk that a downstream cache considers
the line exclusive when it really isn't.
This patch adds a missing counter update for the uncacheable
accesses. By updating this counter we also get a meaningful average
latency for uncacheable accesses (previously inf).
This patch changes the cache implementation to rely on virtual methods
rather than using the replacement policy as a template argument.
There is no impact on the simulation performance, and overall the
changes make it easier to modify (and subclass) the cache and/or
replacement policy.
The stride prefetcher had a hardcoded number of contexts (i.e. master-IDs)
that it could handle. Since master IDs need to be unique per system, and
every core, cache etc. requires a separate master port, a static limit on
these does not make much sense.
Instead, this patch adds a small hash map that will map all master IDs to
the right prefetch state and dynamically allocates new state for new master
IDs.
This patch changes the order of writeback allocation such that any
writebacks resulting from a tag lookup (e.g. for an uncacheable
access), are added to the writebuffer before any new MSHR entries are
allocated. This ensures that the writebacks logically precedes the new
allocations.
The patch also changes the uncacheable flush to use proper timed (or
atomic) writebacks, as opposed to functional writes.
This patch simplifies the code dealing with uncacheable timing
accesses, aiming to align it with the existing miss handling. Similar
to what we do in atomic, a timing request now goes through
Cache::access (where the block is also flushed), and then proceeds to
ignore any existing MSHR for the block in question. This unifies the
flow for cacheable and uncacheable accesses, and for atomic and timing.
This patch changes how we search for matching MSHRs, ignoring any MSHR
that is allocated for an uncacheable access. By doing so, this patch
fixes a corner case in the MSHRs where incorrect data ended up being
copied into a (cacheable) read packet due to a first uncacheable MSHR
target of size 4, followed by a cacheable target to the same MSHR of
size 64. The latter target was filled with nonsense data.
This patch removes the no-longer-needed
allocateUncachedReadBuffer. Besides the checks it is exactly the same
as allocateMissBuffer and thus provides no value.
This patch aligns all MSHR queue entries to block boundaries to
simplify checks for matches. Previously there were corner cases that
could lead to existing entries not being identified as matches.
There are, rather alarmingly, a few regressions that change with this
patch.
This patch subsumes the PREFETCH_SNOOP_SQUASH flag with the more
generic BLOCK_CACHED flag. Future patches implementing cache eviction
messages can use the BLOCK_CACHED flag in almost the same manner as
hardware prefetches use the PREFETCH_SNOOP_SQUASH flag. The
PREFTECH_SNOOP_FLAG is set if the prefetch target is found in the tags
or the MSHRs in any state, so we are simply replacing calls to
setPrefetchSquashed() with setBlockCached(). The case of where the
prefetch target is found in the writeback MSHRs of upper level caches
continues to be covered by the MEM_INHIBIT flag.
For some reason we were checking mshr->hasTargets() even though
we had already called mshr->getTarget() unconditionally earlier
in the same function (which asserts if there are no targets).
Get rid of this useless check, and while we're at it get rid
of the redundant call to mshr->getTarget(), since we still have
the value saved in a local var.
The 'if (writebacks.size)' check was redundant, because
writeBuffer.findMatches() would return false if the
writebacks list was empty.
Also renamed 'mshr' to 'wb_entry' in this context since
we are pointing at a writebuffer entry and not an MSHR
(even though it's the same C++ class).
This patch changes all the DPRINTF messages in the cache to use
'%#llx' every time a packet address is printed. The inclusion of '#'
ensures '0x' is prepended, and since the address type is a uint64_t %x
really should be %llx.
This patch fixes a rather subtle issue in the sending of MSHR requests
in the cache, where the logic previously did not check for conflicts
between the MSRH queue and the write queue when requests were not
ready. The correct thing to do is to always check, since not having a
ready MSHR does not guarantee that there is no conflict.
The underlying problem seems to have slipped past due to the symmetric
timings used for the write queue and MSHR queue. However, with the
recent timing changes the bug caused regressions to fail.
By default, the packet queue is ordered by the ticks of the to-be-sent
packages. With the recent modifications of packages sinking their header time
when their resposne leaves the caches, there could be cases of MSHR targets
being allocated and ordered A, B, but their responses being sent out in the
order B,A. This led to inconsistencies in bus traffic, in particular the snoop
filter observing first a ReadExResp and later a ReadRespWithInv. Logically,
these were ordered the other way around behind the MSHR, but due to the timing
adjustments when inserting into the PacketQueue, they were sent out in the
wrong order on the bus, confusing the snoop filter.
This patch adds a flag (off by default) such that these special cases can
request in-order insertion into the packet queue, which might offset timing
slighty. This is expected to occur rarely and not affect timing results.
This patch makes the caches and memory controllers consume the delay
that is annotated to a packet by the crossbar. Previously many
components simply threw these delays away. Note that the devices still
do not pay for these delays.
This patch fixes a long-standing isue with the port flow
control. Before this patch the retry mechanism was shared between all
different packet classes. As a result, a snoop response could get
stuck behind a request waiting for a retry, even if the send/recv
functions were split. This caused message-dependent deadlocks in
stress-test scenarios.
The patch splits the retry into one per packet (message) class. Thus,
sendTimingReq has a corresponding recvReqRetry, sendTimingResp has
recvRespRetry etc. Most of the changes to the code involve simply
clarifying what type of request a specific object was accepting.
The biggest change in functionality is in the cache downstream packet
queue, facing the memory. This queue was shared by requests and snoop
responses, and it is now split into two queues, each with their own
flow control, but the same physical MasterPort. These changes fixes
the previously seen deadlocks.
This patch resolves a bug with hardware prefetches. Before a hardware prefetch
is sent towards the memory, the system generates a snoop request to check all
caches above the prefetch generating cache for the presence of the prefetth
target. If the prefetch target is found in the tags or the MSHRs of the upper
caches, the cache sets the prefetchSquashed flag in the snoop packet. When the
snoop packet returns with the prefetchSquashed flag set, the prefetch
generating cache deallocates the MSHR reserved for the prefetch. If the
prefetch target is found in the writeback buffer of the upper cache, the cache
sets the memInhibit flag, which signals the prefetch generating cache to
expect the data from the writeback. When the snoop packet returns with the
memInhibitAsserted flag set, it marks the allocated MSHR as inService and
waits for the data from the writeback.
If the prefetch target is found in multiple upper level caches, specifically
in the tags or MSHRs of one upper level cache and the writeback buffer of
another, the snoop packet will return with both prefetchSquashed and
memInhibitAsserted set, while the current code is not written to handle such
an outcome. Current code checks for the prefetchSquashed flag first, if it
finds the flag, it deallocates the reserved MSHR. This leads to assert failure
when the data from the writeback appears at cache. In this fix, we simply
switch the order of checks. We first check for memInhibitAsserted and then for
prefetch squashed.
This patch clarifies the packet timings annotated
when going through a crossbar.
The old 'firstWordDelay' is replaced by 'headerDelay' that represents
the delay associated to the delivery of the header of the packet.
The old 'lastWordDelay' is replaced by 'payloadDelay' that represents
the delay needed to processing the payload of the packet.
For now the uses and values remain identical. However, going forward
the payloadDelay will be additive, and not include the
headerDelay. Follow-on patches will make the headerDelay capture the
pipeline latency incurred in the crossbar, whereas the payloadDelay
will capture the additional serialisation delay.
This patch adds some much-needed clarity in the specification of the
cache timing. For now, hit_latency and response_latency are kept as
top-level parameters, but the cache itself has a number of local
variables to better map the individual timing variables to different
behaviours (and sub-components).
The introduced variables are:
- lookupLatency: latency of tag lookup, occuring on any access
- forwardLatency: latency that occurs in case of outbound miss
- fillLatency: latency to fill a cache block
We keep the existing responseLatency
The forwardLatency is used by allocateInternalBuffer() for:
- MSHR allocateWriteBuffer (unchached write forwarded to WriteBuffer);
- MSHR allocateMissBuffer (cacheable miss in MSHR queue);
- MSHR allocateUncachedReadBuffer (unchached read allocated in MSHR
queue)
It is our assumption that the time for the above three buffers is the
same. Similarly, for snoop responses passing through the cache we use
forwardLatency.
This patch adds a bit of clarification around the assumptions made in
the cache when packets are sent out, and dirty responses are
pending. As part of the change, the marking of an MSHR as in service
is simplified slightly, and comments are added to explain what
assumptions are made.
This patch removes the source field from the ForwardResponseRecord,
but keeps the class as it is part of how the cache identifies
responses to hardware prefetches that are snooped upwards.
The cache's MemSidePacketQueue schedules a sendEvent based upon
nextMSHRReadyTime() which is the time when the next MSHR is ready or whenever
a future prefetch is ready. However, a prefetch being ready does not guarentee
that it can obtain an MSHR. So, when all MSHRs are full,
the simulation ends up unnecessiciarly scheduling a sendEvent every picosecond
until an MSHR is finally freed and the prefetch can happen.
This patch fixes this by not signaling the prefetch ready time if the prefetch
could not be generated. The event is rescheduled as soon as a MSHR becomes
available.
Previously the code commented about an unhandled case where it might be
possible for a writeback to arrive after a prefetch was generated but
before it was sent to the memory system. I hit that case. Luckily
the prefetchSquash() logic already in the code handles dropping prefetch
request in certian circumstances.
Re-organizes the prefetcher class structure. Previously the
BasePrefetcher forced multiple assumptions on the prefetchers that
inherited from it. This patch makes the BasePrefetcher class truly
representative of base functionality. For example, the base class no
longer enforces FIFO order. Instead, prefetchers with FIFO requests
(like the existing stride and tagged prefetchers) now inherit from a
new QueuedPrefetcher base class.
Finally, the stride-based prefetcher now assumes a custimizable lookup table
(sets/ways) rather than the previous fully associative structure.
Adds a new parameter that reserves some number of MSHR entries for demand
accesses. This helps prevent prefetchers from taking all MSHRs, forcing demand
requests from the CPU to stall.
This patch takes a clean-slate approach to providing WriteInvalidate
(write streaming, full cache line writes without first reading)
support.
Unlike the prior attempt, which took an aggressive approach of directly
writing into the cache before handling the coherence actions, this
approach follows the existing cache flows as closely as possible.
This patch attempts to make the rules for data allocation in the
packet explicit, understandable, and easy to verify. The constructor
that copies a packet is extended with an additional flag "alloc_data"
to enable the call site to explicitly say whether the newly created
packet is short-lived (a zero-time snoop), or has an unknown life-time
and therefore should allocate its own data (or copy a static pointer
in the case of static data).
The tricky case is the static data. In essence this is a
copy-avoidance scheme where the original source of the request (DMA,
CPU etc) does not ask the memory system to return data as part of the
packet, but instead provides a pointer, and then the memory system
carries this pointer around, and copies the appropriate data to the
location itself. Thus any derived packet actually never copies any
data. As the original source does not copy any data from the response
packet when arriving back at the source, we must maintain the copy of
the original pointer to not break the system. We might want to revisit
this one day and pay the price for a few extra memcpy invocations.
All in all this patch should make it easier to grok what is going on
in the memory system and how data is actually copied (or not).
This patch cleans up the use of hasData and checkFunctional in the
packet. The hasData function is unfortunately suggesting that it
checks if the packet has a valid data pointer, when it does in fact
only check if the specific packet type is specified to have a data
payload. The confusion led to a bug in checkFunctional. The latter
function is also tidied up to avoid name overloading.
This adds a basic level of sanity checking to the packet by ensuring
that a request is not modified once the packet is created. The only
issue that had to be worked around is the relaying of
software-prefetches in the cache. The specific situation is now solved
by first copying the request, and then creating a new packet
accordingly.
This patch cleans up the packet memory allocation confusion. The data
is always allocated at the requesting side, when a packet is created
(or copied), and there is never a need for any device to allocate any
space if it is merely responding to a paket. This behaviour is in line
with how SystemC and TLM works as well, thus increasing
interoperability, and matching established conventions.
The redundant calls to Packet::allocate are removed, and the checks in
the function are tightened up to make sure data is only ever allocated
once. There are still some oddities in the packet copy constructor
where we copy the data pointer if it is static (without ownership),
and allocate new space if the data is dynamic (with ownership). The
latter is being worked on further in a follow-on patch.
This patch takes a first step in tightening up how we use the data
pointer in write packets. A const getter is added for the pointer
itself (getConstPtr), and a number of member functions are also made
const accordingly. In a range of places throughout the memory system
the new member is used.
The patch also removes the unused isReadWrite function.
