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cache


  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Cache  \Cache\,  n.  [F.,  a  hiding  place  fr  cacher  to  conceal,  to 
  hide.] 
  A  hole  in  the  ground,  or  hiding  place  for  concealing  and 
  preserving  provisions  which  it  is  inconvenient  to  carry. 
  --Kane. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  cache 
  n  1:  a  hidden  storage  space  (for  money  or  provisions  or  weapons) 
  2:  a  secret  store  of  valuables  or  money  [syn:  {hoard},  {stash}] 
  3:  (computer  science)  RAM  memory  that  is  set  aside  as  a 
  specialized  buffer  storage  that  is  continually  updated; 
  used  to  optimize  data  transfers  between  system  elements 
  with  different  characteristics  [syn:  {memory  cache}] 
  v  :  save  up  as  for  future  use  [syn:  {hoard},  {stash},  {lay  away}, 
  {hive  up},  {squirrel  away}] 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Cache,  IL 
  Zip  code(s):  62913 
  Cache,  OK  (town,  FIPS  10700) 
  Location:  34.62862  N,  98.61566  W 
  Population  (1990):  2251  (914  housing  units) 
  Area:  8.5  sq  km  (land),  0.0  sq  km  (water) 
  Zip  code(s):  73527 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  cache 
 
    /kash/  A  small  fast  memory  holding 
  recently  accessed  data,  designed  to  speed  up  subsequent  access 
  to  the  same  data.  Most  often  applied  to  processor-memory 
  access  but  also  used  for  a  local  copy  of  data  accessible  over 
  a  network  etc 
 
  When  data  is  read  from  or  written  to  {main  memory}  a  copy  is 
  also  saved  in  the  cache,  along  with  the  associated  main  memory 
  address.  The  cache  monitors  addresses  of  subsequent  reads  to 
  see  if  the  required  data  is  already  in  the  cache.  If  it  is  (a 
  {cache  hit})  then  it  is  returned  immediately  and  the  main 
  memory  read  is  aborted  (or  not  started).  If  the  data  is  not 
  cached  (a  {cache  miss})  then  it  is  fetched  from  main  memory 
  and  also  saved  in  the  cache. 
 
  The  cache  is  built  from  faster  memory  chips  than  main  memory 
  so  a  cache  hit  takes  much  less  time  to  complete  than  a  normal 
  memory  access  The  cache  may  be  located  on  the  same 
  {integrated  circuit}  as  the  {CPU},  in  order  to  further  reduce 
  the  access  time.  In  this  case  it  is  often  known  as  {primary 
  cache}  since  there  may  be  a  larger,  slower  {secondary  cache} 
  outside  the  CPU  chip. 
 
  The  most  important  characteristic  of  a  cache  is  its  {hit  rate} 
  -  the  fraction  of  all  memory  accesses  which  are  satisfied  from 
  the  cache.  This  in  turn  depends  on  the  cache  design  but 
  mostly  on  its  size  relative  to  the  main  memory.  The  size  is 
  limited  by  the  cost  of  fast  memory  chips. 
 
  The  hit  rate  also  depends  on  the  access  pattern  of  the 
  particular  program  being  run  (the  sequence  of  addresses  being 
  read  and  written).  Caches  rely  on  two  properties  of  the 
  access  patterns  of  most  programs:  temporal  locality  -  if 
  something  is  accessed  once,  it  is  likely  to  be  accessed  again 
  soon,  and  spatial  locality  -  if  one  memory  location  is 
  accessed  then  nearby  memory  locations  are  also  likely  to  be 
  accessed.  In  order  to  exploit  spatial  locality,  caches  often 
  operate  on  several  words  at  a  time,  a  "{cache  line}"  or  "cache 
  block".  Main  memory  reads  and  writes  are  whole  {cache  lines}. 
 
  When  the  processor  wants  to  write  to  main  memory,  the  data  is 
  first  written  to  the  cache  on  the  assumption  that  the 
  processor  will  probably  read  it  again  soon.  Various  different 
  policies  are  used  In  a  {write-through}  cache,  data  is 
  written  to  main  memory  at  the  same  time  as  it  is  cached.  In  a 
  {write-back}  cache  it  is  only  written  to  main  memory  when  it 
  is  forced  out  of  the  cache. 
 
  If  all  accesses  were  writes  then,  with  a  write-through  policy, 
  every  write  to  the  cache  would  necessitate  a  main  memory 
  write,  thus  slowing  the  system  down  to  main  memory  speed. 
  However,  statistically,  most  accesses  are  reads  and  most  of 
  these  will  be  satisfied  from  the  cache.  Write-through  is 
  simpler  than  write-back  because  an  entry  that  is  to  be 
  replaced  can  just  be  overwritten  in  the  cache  as  it  will 
  already  have  been  copied  to  main  memory  whereas  write-back 
  requires  the  cache  to  initiate  a  main  memory  write  of  the 
  flushed  entry  followed  (for  a  processor  read)  by  a  main  memory 
  read.  However,  write-back  is  more  efficient  because  an  entry 
  may  be  written  many  times  in  the  cache  without  a  main  memory 
  access 
 
  When  the  cache  is  full  and  it  is  desired  to  cache  another  line 
  of  data  then  a  cache  entry  is  selected  to  be  written  back  to 
  main  memory  or  "flushed".  The  new  line  is  then  put  in  its 
  place  Which  entry  is  chosen  to  be  flushed  is  determined  by  a 
  "{replacement  algorithm}". 
 
  Some  processors  have  separate  instruction  and  data  caches. 
  Both  can  be  active  at  the  same  time,  allowing  an  instruction 
  fetch  to  overlap  with  a  data  read  or  write.  This  separation 
  also  avoids  the  possibility  of  bad  {cache  conflict}  between 
  say  the  instructions  in  a  loop  and  some  data  in  an  array  which 
  is  accessed  by  that  loop. 
 
  See  also  {direct  mapped  cache},  {fully  associative  cache}, 
  {sector  mapping},  {set  associative  cache}. 
 
  (1997-06-25) 
 
 




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