System and method for handling updates to memory in a distributed shared memory system

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/219,929 filed Jul. 20, 2000.

[0002] The present invention relates in general to multiprocessor computer, systems and more particularly to system and method for handling updates to memory in a distributed shared memory system.

[0003] A type of conventional processor used in computer systems has an operation called an implicit write back. An implicit writeback initially occurs when a processor obtains ownership of data from another processor that has modified the data. The implicit writeback operation allows for the updating of the data in memory without losing the modification made by the previous owner of the data. As multiple processors in a node may be passing ownership of the data back and forth to each other, many implicit writeback operations may be initiated. A large number of outstanding implicit writeback operations directed to common data and memory address may degrade operation of the computer system. Therefore, it is desirable to improve the operating efficiency of the computer system.

[0004] From the foregoing, it may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a need exists for a technique to prevent numerous implicit writeback from clogging up the pipeline of a computer system. In accordance with the present invention, a system and method for handling updates to memory in a distributed shared memory system are provided that substantially eliminate or reduce disadvantages and problems associated with conventional memory update techniques.

[0005] According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for handling updates to memory in a distributed shared memory system that includes receiving ownership of data at a processor. Upon receiving ownership, the processor initiates an update to memory request for the data. The update to memory request is forwarded to a memory directory associated with a home memory for the data. Subsequent updates to memory requests for the data may be initiated by the processor prior to processing of the initial update to memory. A most recent one of the subsequent updates to memory request is maintained. An update acknowledgment is received from the memory directory indicating that the data has been updated in its home memory. Upon receiving the update acknowledgment, the, most recent subsequent update to memory request is forwarded to the memory directory for processing.

[0006] The present invention provides various technical advantages over conventional memory update techniques. For example, one technical advantage is to only process a most recent writeback after an implicit writeback. Another technical advantage is to discard intermediate writeback requests and not clog up the computer system by processing them. other technical advantages may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following figures, description, and claims.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system 10. The computer system 10 includes a plurality of node controllers 12 interconnected by a network 14. Each node controller 12 processes data and traffic both internally and with other node controllers 12 within the computer system 10 over the network 14. Each node controller 12 may communicate with one or more local processors 16, a local memory device 17, and a local input/output device 18.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the node controller 12. The node controller 12 includes a network interface unit 20, a memory directory interface unit 22, a front side bus processor interface unit 24, an input/output interface unit 26, a local block unit 28, and a crossbar unit 30. The network interface unit 20 may provide a communication link to the network 14 in order to transfer data, messages, and other traffic to other node controllers 12 in computer system 10. The front side bus processor interface unit 24 may provide a communication link with one or more local processors 16. The memory directory interface unit 22 may provide a communication link with one or more local memory devices 17. The input/output interface unit 26 may provide a communication link with one or more local input/output devices 18. The local block unit 28 is dedicated to processing invalidation requests and handling programmed input/output operations. The crossbar unit 30 arbitrates the transfer of data, messages, and other traffic for the node controller 12.

[0016] Each processor 16 includes at least one cache to temporarily store data from any memory 17 within system 10. Data is typically stored in a cache of processor 16 as individual cache lines of 132 bytes each that include 128 bytes of data and 4 bytes of directory information including its state and other control information pertaining to the data associated with the cache line. The directory information includes everything which needs to be known about the state of the cache line in the system as a whole and the data portion holds the data associated with the cache line unless another part of the system has a current copy of the cache line before it has been updated in the memory. Memory directory interface unit 22 includes memory references to data stored within its corresponding memory and what processors within system 10 have a copy of that data. Processor 16 may request data from any memory 17 within system 10 through accesses to the memory directory interface unit 22 corresponding to the memory containing the data. If the data is held in the cache of another processor, the data may be retrieved from that other processor according to a protocol scheme implemented within system 10. Memory directory interface unit 22 responds to incoming messages from any where, within system 10 and updates the state of a particular cache line and generates messages in response to the incoming messages.

[0017] System 10 accesses memory resident data and system state and reliably shares data between cooperating processor nodes and/or peer input/output nodes through a protocol scheme. The protocol scheme is specified through four correlated attribute sets. The attribute sets are the transient and stable sharing state associated with each parcel of data as viewed at its home location, the transient and stable state associated with each remote copy of a parcel of data, the specific request and response message types used in communications between entities within system 10, and the action taken in response to these messages. Actions taken may include state transitions, bus transactions, and reply messages.

[0018] Four subset protocols may be included in the overall system protocol scheme. These protocols include a memory protocol for the coherent or non-coherent access to main memory resident data, a programmed input/output protocol for access to miscellaneous system state and control mechanisms, a graphics flow control protocol for applying localized flow control on a processor which is streaming writes to a graphics peripheral, and an administrative protocol for use in maintenance and configuration procedures and for implementation specific functionality. The memory protocol requires no network ordering of any kind. Messages may be freely reordered even within a single virtual channel between a single source and destination. The programmed input/output protocol uses a hybrid network ordering technique. PIO request messages are delivered in order from a particular source to a particular destination. This ordering is preserved even for PIO request messages to different addresses. Thus, all PIO request messages from a source node to a particular destination node are delivered in the same order in which they are sent regardless of whether the destination for the message has the same or different address. PIO reply messages require no network ordering as they may be delivered to the originating node in an order different from that in which they were sent by the target of the PIO request message. The graphics flow control protocol uses the same hybrid network ordering technique as the programmed input/output protocol. Administrative messages require no network reordering of any kind and may be freely reordered as in the memory protocol.

[0019] The protocol scheme is a non-blocking request/reply protocol technique preferably optimized for the processor 16 front side bus and cache coherence implementation. The protocol scheme extends the Modified/Exclusive/Shared/Invalid (MESI) cache coherence protocol, used to maintain coherence within an individual processor bus, throughout system 10. The technique maintains coherence related sharing state for each cache line sized parcel of physical data in a special directory structure. The state of remotely held copies of a cache line is maintained in a similar fashion at the remote locations using a cache to hold the current copy of the cache line, its address tag, and its current state.

[0020] Various features are provided by the protocol scheme. Messages that cannot be serviced when they reach the memory are NACK'd rather than stalled or buffered in order to provide the non-blocking functionality. Two virtual channels are used—one for request and one for reply messages. Messages may be arbitrarily reordered within system 10. Three hop forwarding of dirty data may be provided directly from the owner of the data to the requester as long as sufficient network resources are available. Each request message includes an echo field whose contents are returned with every reply message associated with the original request message. Dynamic backoff is supported to restrict the request/reply protocol during network congestion. Implicit writebacks are handled and all forms of writebacks are acknowledged. Private data optimization is provided wherein lines may be requested read shared but exclusive is preferred if convenient. Non-allocating reads (get operations) and out of the blue cache line writes (put operations) allow for intra-cluster page migration and block copies and inter cluster communications. Silent drops of clean exclusive (CEX) and shared (SHD) data in processor caches are provided as well as CEX replacement hints. Also, fairness and starvation management mechanisms operate in conjunction with the core protocol scheme to increase message service fairness and prevent message starvation.

[0021] Other features include exclusive read-only request messages that retrieve data in a read-only state but also removes it from all sharers in the system. This operation is preferably used for input/output agent prefetching as it permits any node in system 10 to receive a coherent copy of a cache line. An input/output agent may also guarantee to self-invalidate an exclusive read-only line from its cache after a certain period of time through a timed input/output read in order to eliminate a need for the directory to send an invalidate request message to the input/output agent. This feature optimizes the expected input/output prefetching behavior and adds additional RAS resiliency in that a missing invalidate acknowledgment from an input/output agent can be ignored once the timeout period has elapsed.

[0022] Directory state is maintained in separate directory entries for each cache-line in the main resident memory. Each entry contains a line state representing a fundamental sharing state of the cache line, a sharing vector tracking which nodes and processors have a copy of the cache line in question, a priority field specifying the current priority of the directory entry for use in the fairness/starvation mechanism, and a protection field determining what types of accesses are permitted and from which nodes.

[0023] In this embodiment, the directory tracks 29 different states for each cache line. Fewer or more states may be tracked as desired for a particular implementation. Table I provides an example of the different states. Of the states listed in Table I, their are four stable states with the remaining states being transient and used to track the progress of a multi-message transaction in which the directory receives a request message, forwards some sort of intermediate message, and waits for a response message before completing the transaction and returning the particular cache line to one of the four stable states.

[0024]

TABLE I
group	Name	Description
Stable	UNOWN	Line is not cached anywhere; only
States		copy of the line is in memory.
	SHRD	Line is cached in a read-only state by one or more
		nodes. All cached copies of the line are
		identical to the one in memory.
	EXCL	Line is cached in a read/write state by exactly one
		node. The cached copy of the line is more
		up to date than the copy in memory.
	SXRO	Line is cached in a read-only state by a single
		node in the system. This state is the result
		of a read exclusive read-only request.
Transient	BUSY	sent intervention; rcvd nothing from new owner,
states for		nothing from old
read to	BSYEI	sent intervention; rcvd IWE from new owner,
exclusive		nothing from old
line	BSYUW	sent intervention; rcvd WRBKI/WRBKR from
		new owner, nothing from old
	BSYUR	sent intervention; rcvd RQSH/RQSHR from
		new owner, nothing from old
	BSYEN	sent intervention; rcvd first half of response from
		old owner; do not write further data from
		old owner. Eventual state is EXCL.
	BSYEN	sent intervention; rcvd first half of response from
		old owner; allow writes of further data from old
		owner. Eventual state is EXCL.
	BSYSN	sent intervention; rcvd first half of response from
		old owner; do not write further data from old
		owner. Eventual state is SHRD.
	BSYSY	sent intervention; rcvd first half of response from
		old owner; allow writes of
	BSYUN	sent intervention; rcvd first half of response from
		old owner; do not write further data from old
		owner. Eventual state is UNOWN.
	BSYUY	sent intervention; rcvd first half of response from
		old owner; allow writes of further data from old
		owner. Eventual state is UNOWN.
Transient	BSYF	Sent FLSH/ERASE, nothing received yet
states	BSYFN	Waiting on second half of FLSH/ERASE result,
after		data received
issuing a	BSYFY	Waiting on second half of FLSH/ERASE result,
FLSH or		no data received
ERASE
Transient	BUSYI	Tracking down an invalid copy for a GET
states for	BSYIW	Tracking down an invalid copy for a GET, have
GET to		received a writeback from the owner.
exclusive
line
Transient	BSYG	Sent ININF, nothing received yet
states for	BSYGN	Waiting on second half of ININF result,
GET		data received
to	BSYGY	Waiting on second half of ININF result, no data
exclusive		received
line
Transient	BSYX	Sent INEXC; nothing received yet.
states for	BSYXN	Sent INEXC and waiting for second half of result;
timed		data received
read-
exclusive	BSYXY	Sent INEXC and waiting for second half of result;
read-only		no data received
requests
Transient	BSYN	Sent INEXC; nothing received yet.
states for	BSYNN	Sent INEXC and waiting for second half of result;
non-timed		data received
read-	BSYNY	Sent INEXC and waiting for second half of result;
exclusive		no data received
read-only
requests
Miscellan-	POIS	Line has been marked as inaccessible. Any
eous		attempt to read or write to the line will receive a
states		PERK error response. This state can be entered
		only by a backdoor directory write by the OS.

[0025] Information in the sharing vector tracks the location of exclusive or shared copies of a cache line as required to enforce the protocol that maintains coherence between those copies and the home location of the cache line. The sharing vector may be used in one of three ways depending on the directory state. The sharing vector may be in a pointer format as a binary node pointer to a single processor node or input/output node. This format is used when the state is EXCL as well as in most transient states. The sharing vector may be in a pointer timer format as a combination of an input/output read timer and a binary node pointer. This format handles the read exclusive read-only (RDXRO) transaction. The sharing vector may be in a bit vector format as a bit vector of sharers. The field is preferably partitioned into a plane bit vector, a row bit vector, and a column bit vector. This format is used when the cache line is in a SHRD state. Examples of the use of the sharing vector can be found in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/971,184 entitled “Multi-dimensional Cache Coherence Directory Structure”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,958, and in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/910,630 entitled “Method and System for Efficient Use of a Multi-dimensional Sharing Vector in a Computer System”, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0026] Each directory entry includes a priority field. Each incoming read request message also includes a priority field. When the incoming request message reaches the directory mechanism, its priority field is compared to the priority field in the associated directory entry. If the priority of the incoming request message is greater than or equal to that in the directory entry, the request message is allowed to be serviced normally. The result of servicing determines how the directory priority is updated. If the request message was serviced successfully, then the priority of the directory entry is reset to zero. If the request message was not serviced successfully, the priority of the directory entry is set to the priority of the request message. If the priority of the incoming request message is less than the priority of the directory entry, then the request message is not permitted to be serviced. A NACK is returned and the priority of the directory entry is not altered.

[0027] The protection-field in the directory entry is used to determine whether request messages for a cache line are allowed to be serviced. For protection purposes, all nodes in the system are classified as local or remote. Local/remote determination is made by using a source node number in the request message to index a local/remote vector stored in the memory directory. If the bit in the local/remote vector corresponding to the source node number is set, the access is classified as local. If the bit is cleared, the access is classified as remote. Once local/remote classification has been made, the protection bits in the protection field in the directory entry determine if the access is allowed. To implement the protection scheme, all request messages are classified as reads or writes. Any read request message to a cache line for which the requester does not have at least read-only permission will be returned as an access error reply and no directory state updates of any kind will occur. Any write request message for which the requester does not have read/write permission will be returned as a write error reply and no directory state updates of any kind will occur nor will the write data be written to memory. Table II shows an example of possibilities for local and remote access.

[0028]

TABLE II
Protection Value	Local Access Allowed	Remote Access Allowed
00	Read/Write	Nothing
01	Read/Write	Read-only
10	Read/Write	Read/Write
11	Read-only	Read-only

[0029] The memory protocol is implemented cooperatively by the home memory directories and the various remote entities including the processors and associated processor interfaces, processor managed DMA mechanisms, and peer IO nodes. The transient sharing state of coherence transactions at the remote locations is maintained in small associative memories, coherent request buffers (CRB). Entities that have globally coherent caches of system memory image also have internal state that is included in the implementation of the coherence related protocol. For these situations, a CRB tracks the transient state of interactions between it and the processor cache hierarchies across the front side bus.

[0030] The cached memory hierarchy implements a MESI protocol identifying four stable coherence states for each of the cache lines in the system. The processor coherence states are shown in Table III.

[0031]

TABLE III
IA-64
Cache
Line			SN2
State	Description	SN2 name	Mnemonic
Invalid	not present in this cache	invalid	INV
	hierarchy
Shared	read-only copy of line	shared	SHD
	present in this cache
	hierarchy
Exclusive	writable copy of line present	clean	CEX
	in this cache hierarchy	exclusive
Modified	copy that is present is newer	dirty	DEX
	than the one in memory	exclusive

[0032] There are major categories of transactions that are tracked remotely. These include locally initiated read request messages, locally initiated write request messages, and incoming intervention requests. Interventions are received if the remote entity maintains a coherent locally cached image of global memory. In some cases, it may be convenient and efficient to manage separate CRBs for each category of request. Otherwise, a single CRB structure may be sufficient.

[0033] Information that is tracked in a remote CRB includes an address field, a state field, a type field, a counter field, a doomed field, a speculative reply field, and a NACK field. The address field includes the system address of the request message. The state field includes the current state of a transaction. If FREE, no transaction is being tracked with this directory entry. The type field specifies the type of request message. The counter field serves as a signed binary counter and is used to count invalidate acknowledgments. The doomed field tracks whether a cache line was invalidated while a read request message for it was outstanding. If the doomed field is set when the read response message returns, the read request message is retried. The speculative reply field tracks which part of a speculative reply message has been received. The NACK field counts how many times a request message has been NACK'd. This value is used to implement the fairness/starvation mechanism and may be used to detect a request message that has been excessively NACK'd.

[0034] Other information that may be tracked includes additional information to fully characterize the current transaction so that it can be correctly implemented locally as in on the local front side bus or IO interface with its own protocol requirements. Information may be tracked relating to local request messages or intervention request messages targeting the same address as a currently pending transaction. Optimizations and error handling information may also be indicated. Table IV summarizes information that may be tracked in a remote

[0035]

TABLE IV
category	Field	Description
	A	Address of the request
	S/V	transient state (FREE, BUSY, Etc.)
	T	Request type.
	C	Invalidate ack count (max value = max # of
		possible sharers in a system)
	D	Doomed. Set if a read request is invalidated
		before the read data returns.
	E	Speculative reply tracking.
	NC	NACK counter (in support of starvation
		avoidance)
conflicting	P	Pending request type. Indicates whether a
local request		second request has been issued to the same
pending		address and needs to be retried.
conflicting	H	Held intervention type.
intervention	HS	Pointer to intervention source node.
request pending	ECHO	Echo field from held intervention message.
auxiliary	DID	Deferred ID tag, as when IA-64 request was
info		first issued on the bus.
needed to	LEN	size of data payload
complete the	SHD	Shared indication. Tracks whether another CPU
transaction		on the bus had the line SHD or CEX.
locally		Determines whether read response can be
		placed in cache CEX or whether it must be
		placed in cache SHD.
optimizations,	K	pending speculative read was satisfied locally
error		before the response returned
handling, etc.	TO	time out counter to identify hung transactions

[0036] Processor 16 can issue several classes of bus transactions. Table V summarizes the request phase transactions. Status presented in the snoop phase (not present, hit clean, or hit dirty) of a front side bus transaction is also processed as it indicates the lumped sharing state of the requested cache line for all cache hierarchies on that front side bus.

[0037]

	TABLE V
	Source
group	Name	Description	Proc	SHub
READ	BRLD	Bus Read	126-byte cache line data	✓	✓
		Line Data	fetch
	BRLC	Bus Read	126-byte cache line fetch	✓
		Line Code
	BRIL	Bus Read	Read request for an	✓	✓
		Line and	exclusive (i.e., writable)
		Invalidate	copy of a cache line
	BRP	Bus Read	Read 1-16 bytes from a	✓
		Partial	non-cached page.
	BRCL	Bus Read	probe for and acquire snap		✓
		Current	shot of dirty line without
		Line	changing its state in
			owner's cache.
	BIL	Bus	Invalidates a cache line in		✓
		Invalidate	all caches on the bus.
		Line
WRITE	BWL	Bus Write	Write of 128 bytes of data.	✓
		Line	Issued by a processor when
			evicting a dirty line from
			its cache hierarchy or when
			spilling a full line from
			its WC (write coalescing)
			buffers
	BCR	Bus Cache	Used to indicate that a	✓
		Line	processor has dropped a
		Replace-	clean-exclusive line. (also
		ment	called relinquish: BRQSH)
	BWP	Bus write	Write of 1-64 bytes. Issued	✓
		partial	by a processor on a store
			to a non-cached page or
			when spilling a partially
			filled WC buffer.
MISC.	INT	Interrupt	Issues an interrupt to a	✓	✓
			specified processor.
	PTC	Purge TC	Requests a global	✓	✓
			translation cache (TLB)
			purge for a specified
			napping from all processors
			on this bus.

[0038] Table VI shows examples of network request messages and Table VII shows network reply messages for the memory protocol. All network messages are classified as requests or replies. Each table specifies a message type, a mnemonic used to refer to the message type, a description of the message, a payload of the message whether it is a cache line or other payload, a supplemental field for the message, a source for the message, and a destination for the message. The supplemental field may include a priority value for managing fairness/starvation, a byte mask for non-coherent byte enabled writes, a payload length for non-coherent multi-word writes, a pointer to a target node for backoff operations, an invalidate acknowledgment count, a graphics credit return for flow control, and a sharing vector for invalidate operations. The source and destination are encoded as a directory at the home memory (D), a processor front side bus interface (P), a local IO or system support logic (L), and a peer node (X).

[0039]

	TABLE VI
	pay
	load		Src	Dest
Group	Name	Description	CL	Other	Suppl	D	P	L	X	D	P	L	X
READ	shared	READ	Read			Priority		✓			✓
		RDSHD	Read shared			Priority		✓			✓
	exclusive	RDEXC	Read			Priority		✓	✓	✓	✓
			exclusive
		RDXRO	Read			Priority			✓	✓	✓
			exclusive
			read-only,
			timed
		RDXRN	Read			Priority			✓	✓	✓
			exclusive
			read-only,
			non-timed
	GET	GET	Read invalid			Priority		✓			✓
		GETF	Read			Priority		✓			✓
			invalid,
			forced
	etc.	AMOR	Atomic					✓			✓
			memory
			operation,
			read
		NCRD	Non-coherent					✓			✓
			read
WRITE	writeback	WRBK	Writeback	✓				✓			✓
		WRBKR	Writeback,	✓				✓			✓
			concurrent
			read
			outstanding
		IWE	Implicit	✓				✓			✓
			writeback
			exclusive
		RQSH	CEX drop					✓			✓
			(relinquish)
		RQSHR	CEX drop,					✓			✓
			concurrent
			read
			outstanding
	PUT	PUT	Write	✓		Priority			✓	✓	✓
			invalidate
		PFCL	Cache line			Priority		✓	✓	✓	✓
			flush
	etc.	AMOW	Atomic		✓			✓			✓
			memory
			operation,
			write
		NCWRD	Non-coherent		✓	Mask		✓			✓
			write,
			doubleword
		NCWRF	Non-coherent	✓	✓	Length		✓			✓
			write, cache
			line
Probe		INTER	Intervention	✓			✓	✓				✓
			shared
	exclusive	INEXC	Intervention	✓			✓	✓				✓
			exclusive
		FLSH	Flush				✓	✓				✓
		ERASE	Eras	✓			✓	✓				✓
	GET	ININV	Intervention	✓			✓	✓				✓
			invalid
		ININF	Intervention	✓			✓	✓				✓
			invalid,
			forced
	etc.	INVAL	Invalidate	✓			✓		✓			✓	✓	✓
INVAL	BINEV	Backoff			Vector		✓	✓	✓			✓
generation		invalidate
		echo, vector
		format
	LINVV	Local block	✓		Vector	✓						✓
		invalidate
		vector

[0040]

	TABLE VII
	Pay
	load		Src	Dest
Group	Name	Description	CL	other	Suppl	D	P	L	X	D	P	L	X
READ	shared	SRPLY	Shared reply	✓			✓					✓
		SRESP	Shared response	✓				✓				✓
		SACK	Shared					✓				✓
			acknowledge
		BINTR	Backoff	✓		Target	✓					✓
			intervention
			shared
	exclusive	ERPLY	Exclusive reply	✓		Ack	✓					✓	✓	✓
						Cnt
		ESPEC	Exclusive	✓			✓					✓	✓	✓
			speculative
			reply
		ERESP	Exclusive	✓				✓				✓	✓	✓
			response
		EACK	Exclusive					✓				✓	✓	✓
			acknowledge
		ERPYP	Exclusive	✓		Ack	✓							✓
			reply, send			Cnt
			PRGE
		BIEXC	Backoff	✓		Target	✓					✓
			intervention
			exclusive
		BINW	Backoff			Vector	✓		✓			✓	✓	✓
			invalidate,
			vector format
		BINVP	Backoff			Target	✓					✓	✓	✓
			invalidate,
			pointer format
	GET	IRPLY	Invalid reply	✓			✓					✓	✓	✓
		ISPEC	Invalid	✓			✓					✓	✓	✓
			speculative
			reply
		IRESP	Invalid	✓				✓				✓	✓	✓
			response
		IACK	Invalid					✓				✓	✓	✓
			acknowledge
		NACKG	Negative				✓					✓	✓	✓
			acknowledge to
			GET
		BIINV	Backoff			Target	✓					✓	✓	✓
			intervention
			invalid
		BIINF	Backoff	✓		Target	✓					✓	✓	✓
			intervention
			invalid forced
	etc.	ARRP	AMO read reply		✓		✓					✓	✓	✓
		NCRP	Non-coherent	✓	✓		✓					✓		✓
			read reply
		NACK	Coherent read				✓					✓	✓	✓
			negative
			acknowledge
WRITE	writeback	WBACK	Writeback				✓					✓	✓	✓
			acknowledge
		WBBAK	Writeback busy				✓					✓
			acknowledge
	PUT	WACK	Write			Ack	✓					✓	✓	✓
			invalidate			Cnt
			acknowledge
		WACKP	Write			Ack	✓					✓	✓	✓
			invalidate ack,			Cnt
			send PRGE
		WRACK	Write				✓					✓	✓	✓
			invalidate
			negative
			acknowledge
		BFLSH	Backoff flush			Target	✓					✓
		BERSE	Backoff erase			Target	✓					✓	✓	✓
	etc.	AWAK	AMO write				✓					✓	✓	✓
			acknowledge
		NCWAK	Non-coherent				✓					✓		✓
			write
			acknowledge
PROBE	shared	SHWB	Sharing	✓			✓	✓			✓
			writeback
		DNGRD	Downgrade					✓			✓
		SHWBR	Sharing	✓			✓	✓			✓
			writeback,
			prior WB
			pending
		DNGDR	Downgrade with					✓			✓
			prior WB
			pending
	exclusive	PRGE	Purge					✓			✓
		XFER	Ownership	✓			✓	✓			✓
			transfer
		PRGER	Purge with					✓			✓
			prior WB
			pending
		XFERR	Ownership	✓			✓	✓			✓
			transfer, prior
			WB pending
		IWACK	Implicit					✓			✓
			writeback race
			acknowledge
	GET	IIACK	Intervention					✓			✓
			invalid ack
	etc.	IVACK	Invalidate ack					✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
ERROR		PERR	Poisoned access									✓	✓	✓
			error
		AERR	Read protection									✓	✓	✓
			violation error
		WERR	Write									✓	✓	✓
			protection
			violation error
		DERRR	Directory error									✓	✓	✓
			on a read
			request
		DERRW	Directory error									✓	✓	✓
			on a write
			request

[0041] Incoming requests used by other nodes in system 10 to request data from memory include RDEXC, RDSHD, and READ which are used by processors to request coherent data in the exclusive, shared, or most convenient state, respectively; RDXRO and RDXRN used by IO nodes to request a read only copy without using the sharing vector; GET and GETF which are used to request the current state of a cache line without keeping future coherence; NCRD which is used for a non-cached read of a double word; and AMOR which is used to request a special atomic memory read. Nodes return cache lines to memory by RQSH and RQSHR which are used to return an exclusive line to memory which has not been modified and the data itself is thus not returned; WRBK, WRBKR, and IWE which are used to return modified data to memory; PUT which is used by the IO system to overwrite all copies of a cache line without regard to its previous state; NCWRD and NCWRF which are used for non-cached writes of doublewords and cache lines; AMOW which is used to accomplish a special atomic memory write; and PCFL which is used to flush a cache line and force it out of all system caches.

[0042] Incoming replies are used to close out various transient states of the directory. They include XFER and XFERR which are used to return dirty data to memory when another node is getting a clean exclusive copy; SHWBR which is used to return dirty data to memory when the sending node and another node will be sharing the cache line; DNGRD and DNGDR which are used to notify the directory that the node now holds data shared rather than clean exclusive; PRGE and PRGER which are used to notify the directory that the node no longer holds the cache line at all; IIACK which is used to notify the directory that the current value of a cache line has been forwarded to a requestor who sent a GET; and IWACK which is used to close out a particularly complex case in the protocol involving implicit writebacks.

[0043] Outgoing requests are used if outgoing request credits are available. These include INTER and INEXC which are used to request that an intervention be used to send a copy of the cache line to the requester who wants it in a shared or exclusive state; ININV and ININF which are used to request that a Memory Read Current be done and the results passed to the requestor who no longer wants a coherent copy; INVAL which is used to request that a node drop a clean copy of a cache line; LINVV which is used to request that the Local Block send some number of invalidates based on a copy of the sharing vector from the directory entry; and FLSH and ERASE which are used to remove a cache line from a node with or without the return of any dirty data to the home memory. Outgoing backoff replies may be sent in place of outgoing requests if there is a potential for deadlock. These backoff replies are sent to the original requester who has space to store the needed action until it can be accomplished. Outgoing backoff replies are sent when there are no outgoing request credits available. They include BINTR, BIEXC, BIINV, BIINF, BINVP, BINVV, BFLSH, and BERSE.

[0044] Other outgoing replies involve returning data to a requester. These include SRPLY, ERPLY, ERPYP, and IRPLY which return usable data to the requester indicating different states; ESPEC and ISPEC which return speculative data to the requestor where there may or may not be a dirty copy in the system which needs to supersede the speculative data (with the requestor waiting to found out); NCRP which is used to return non-cached data; and ARRP which is used to return the results of an atomic read operation. Acknowledge writes include WBACK and WBBAK which are used to acknowledge writebacks and communicate whether the node needs to wait for a further message; WACK and WACKP which are used to acknowledge PUT and PFCL messages and indicate whether the sender needs to wait for INVAL or not; NCWAK which is used to acknowledge a non-cached write; and AWAK which is used to acknowledge an atomic memory write. Messages used to refuse acknowledgment of a request where the requestor must take appropriate action include NACK, NACKG, and WNACK. Error conditions are indicated by AERR, DERRR, DERRW, WERR, and PERR.

[0045] Table VIII and IX show the request and reply messages for the Programmed input/output protocol. PIO reads and writes of both a single doubleword and a full cache line are supported.

[0046]

	TABLE VIII
	Payload
group	Name	Descriptions	CL	Other	Suppl
Initial	read	PRDI	PIO dword read			Mask
Requests		PCRDI	PIO cache line read
	write	PWRI	PIO dword write		✓	Mask
		PCWRI	PIO cache line write	✓
Retry	read	PRIHA/B	PIO dword read			Mask
Requests			retry, head A/B
(Retry		PRIRA/B	PIO dword read			Mask
requests			retry, non-head A/B
have two		PCRHA/B	PIO cache read
flavors			retry, head A/B
(A and		PCRRA/B	PIO cache read
B) which			retry, non-head A/B
are used	write	PWIHA/B	PIO dword write			Mask
to			retry, head A/B
guaran-		PWIRA/B	PIO dword write			Mask
tee			retry, non-head A/B
forward		PCWHA/B	PIO cache write
progress)			retry, head A/B
		PCWIA/B	PIO cache write
			retry, non-head A/B

[0047]

	TABLE IX
	Payload
group	Name	Description	CL	Other	Suppl
ACK	PRPLY	PIO dword read reply		✓
responses	PCRPY	PIO cache line read reply	✓
	PACKN	PIO dword write ack,
		normal mode
	PACKH	PIO dword write ack,
		head mode
	PCAKN	PIO cache line write ack,
		normal mode
	PCAKH	PIO cache line write ack,
		head mode
NACK	PNKRA/B	PIO dword read NACK,
responses		queue A/B
	PCNRA/B	PIO cache line read NACK,
		queue A/B
	PNKWA/B	PIO dword write NACK,
		queue A/B
	PCNWA/B	PIO cache line write
		NACK, queue A/B
Error	PCNWA	PIO read error
responses	PWERR	PIO write error
	PSDBK	PIO TLB shootdown
		deadlock break

[0048] Table X shows the request and reply messages for the graphics flow control protocol. This protocol provides the means by which uncached writes to a graphics region of the physical address space are transferred to a graphics device. A graphics write is received from the front side-bus and, forwarded to the proper destination. As the graphics device consumes data, credits are returned to the originating node to permit, additional graphics writes to be sent.

[0049]

	TABLE X
	Name	Description	Payload	Suppl
	GFXW1	Graphics dword write	DW
	GFXWC	Graphics cache line	CL
		write
	GFXCR	Graphics credit		Credits
	GFXER	Graphics write error

[0050] TABLE XI shows the request and reply messages for the administrative protocol. The administrative protocol supports several types of messages that act on the router itself rather than simply being passed through the router. These messages include vector operations to read and route internal router state and additional messages used in implementing the hardware-barrier tree mechanism. Other messages facilitate interrupt and TLB shootdown distribution.

[0051]

TABLE XI
Name	Description	Payload	Suppl
VRD	explicitly routed (vector) read	✓
VWR	Vector write	✓
BAR	Vector barrier	✓
LINTR	Local interrupt (Normally never	✓
	appears on the network but error
	interrupts on headless nodes are
	directed off-node)
LPTC	Local TLB shootdown	✓
VRPLY	Vector read reply	✓
VWACK	Vector write ack	✓
VERRA	Vector address error	✓
VERRC	Vector command error	✓
VERAC	Vector address/command error	✓

[0052] Despite the many message types and transient states to track and resolve, the protocol scheme follows a basic function to handle initial request messages. In general, processors and input/output agents issue coherent read and write request messages to memory. How a particular read and write request message is processed is determined by the directory state when the initial request message reaches the directory. The memory will service each individual request message according to one of several generalized procedures. Memory may respond to a request message through a direct reply wherein a read data or write acknowledge reply is sent to the message requestor if the cache line is in a standby state or by NACKing the request message if the cache line is in a transient state. The memory may also return a preliminary reply and issue an intervention request, an invalidate request, or a backoff response. The intervention request is sent to the current owner of the cache line. The invalidate request is sent to the current owner of the cache line and shares thereof. The backoff response is sent to the requestor in order to have, the requestor issue the intervention or invalidate requests on its own. The subsequent messages issued by the memory will eventually produce another reply message which is forwarded to the requester advising of the final disposition of the request message.

[0053] Coherent read request messages include a shared read that obtains a read-only copy of a cache line for which other read-only copies may exist elsewhere in the system. The read-only copy is persistent in that the memory system tracks all sharers so that it may invalidate their copies if the cache line is subsequently modified. An exclusive read is a read and writable copy of a cache line for which no other copy is allowed to exist except for the one in main resident memory. Memory will retrieve the cache line from an exclusive owner if some other entity desires a coherent copy of it. A get read obtains a momentarily coherent read-only copy of a cache line. The memory system does not include the requester in the sharer tracking process and essentially forgets about the copy obtained in this manner.

[0054] Coherent write request messages may be a writeback of exclusively held cache resident cache lines to memory. An explicit writeback occurs-when a dirty exclusive (DEX) line in a processor cache is evicted to make room for a new cache line from another memory address. A relinquish writeback is similar to an explicit writeback except that the cache line is still clean (CEX) so no data is actually returned to memory. An implicit writeback occurs as a result of a probe to a dirty cache line on the owner's front side bus either by another processor on that front side bus or as part of an intervention issued on behalf of the memory system. A coherent write request message may also be a put write message that writes full cache lines of data directly to memory rather than by obtaining an exclusive copy of a cache line and modifying it remotely before returning it to memory. As a result, all remote copies of a targeted cache line are invalidated.

[0055] Request messages that query the processor cache hierarchy on a front side bus are called probes. A probe may include an invalidate request or an intervention request. An invalidate request will expunge shared copies of a cache line if it is still present in one or more of the caches on the front side bus. An intervention request will retrieve the up to date value of an exclusively held and possibly modified cache line in one of the caches on the target front side bus. A probe ultimately results in one or more additional reply messages sent back to the original requestor and a separate reply message sent back to the directory. If memory cannot safely issue a probe without risking a chance of deadlock, it will issue a backoff response message to the requester instead of directly sending the probe. The backoff response message tells the requester to initiate the probe on its own. Subsequent protocol procedures at the directory and elsewhere are essentially unchanged regardless of who issues the probe.

[0056] Table XII shows examples of coherent request messages that a directory may receive and the initial and secondary actions that may be taken in response to the request messages. Backoff responses and secondary transient states are not shown. Replies from the directory target the requestor and probes target the current owner or sharers of record. Probe responses are generally returned to the directory by the current owner. Invalidate probes do not produce probe responses to the directory except for a write invalidate message (PUT or PFCL) and read exclusive read-only request messages (RDXRN or RDXRO). In these cases, the probe response is a PRGE from the original requester rather than from the current owner.

[0057]

TABLE XII

[0058] Writebacks (WRBK, WRBKR, RQSH, RQSHR, and IWE) should never hit a line in SHRD, SXRO or UNOWN. Writebacks to any transient state line (BUSY, etc.) represent protocol races. These are not nacked as all other requests would be because the information needed to fully process the request is implicit in the request itself. However, the proceeding also depends on current and pending ownership and the specific type of transient state encourntered. In general, the Reply to a Writeback request in this case is either a normal WBACK or a WBBAK (Writeback Busy Acknowledge).

[0059] Processor 16 defines a slightly different set of state transitions in response to interventions than was used in other processors such as the R10000. Table XIII shows the state transitions: for processor 16 as compared to other processors such as the R10000. The main difference is in the handling of a shared intervention (BRL) that targets a cache line in a dirty exclusive (M) state. The M to I transition on a BRL differs from traditional handling of shared interventions. This difference, though seemingly minor, has a significant impact on the directory state transitions that occur in the course of handling an intervention. The complication occurs in that the directory does not know the ultimate state of the cache line in the old owner's cache until the intervention is issued and the snoop result observed. Further complicating matters is the possibility that a writeback (WRBK), relinquish (RQSH), or implicit writeback (IWE) will be outstanding when the intervention arrives.

[0060]

TABLE XIII
	Current	New Cache
	Cache	State, Other	New Cache
Intervention Type	State	Processors	State, Processor 16
Shared (BRL)	DEX (M)	SHD (S)	INV (I)
	CEX (E)	SHD (S)	SHD (S)
	SHD (S)	SHD (S)	SHD (S)
	INV (I)	INV (I)	INV (I)
Exclusive (BRIL,)	DEX (M)	INV (I)	INV (I)
	CEX (E)	INV (I)	INV (I)
	SHD (S)	INV (I)	INV (I)
	INV (I)	INV (I)	INV (I)

[0061] The following is an example of intervention handling. When there is no write request message outstanding (no WRBK, RQSH, or IWE), an IRB, entry in processor interface 24 is allocated and an intervention is issued on the front side bus. A BRL is issued for INTER and ININF probes. A BRIL is issued for INEXC and FLSH probes. A BIL is issued for an ERASE probe. A BRCL is issued for an ININV probe. Once the intervention has issued, the IRB awaits the snoop result to determine the state of the cache line in the processor cache. Processing of the intervention varies according to the snoop result. If the cache line was in the M state (HITM asserted in the snoop phase), the old owner will not retain the cache line at all. The requester takes the cache line as clean exclusive (CEX). The final directory state becomes EXCL with the requester as the owner. The old owner sends an ownership transfer (XPER) message to the directory and, if the intervention was not a FLSH or ERASE, sends an ERESP message to the requestor. An IRESP message is sent if the intervention was an ININF. If the cache line was in the E or S states (HIT asserted in the snoop phase), the old owner will retain a shared copy of the cache line. The requestor takes the cache line as shared (SHD). The final directory state of the cache line will be SHRD with both the old owner and requester as sharers. The old owner will send a downgrade (DNGRD) message to the directory and, if the intervention was not a FLSH or ERASE, sends an SACK message to the requester. An IACK message is sent if the intervention was an ININF. If the cache line was in the I state (neither HIT nor HITM asserted in the snoop phase), the old owner will not retain the cache line at all and the requestor takes the cache line EXCL as in the M state case above. This case occurs when the old owner originally obtained the cache line CEX and dropped it without issuing a relinquish request message. The old owner will send a purge (PRGE) message to the directory and, if the intervention was not a FLSH or ERASE, sends an EACK message to the requester. An IACK message is sent if the intervention was ININF.

[0062] Different processing is needed to handle an intervention that arrives when a write request message is outstanding. Processing of the intervention on what types of write request messages are outstanding. There may be more than one type outstanding as the WRB entry in processor interface 24 can hold two write requests, one that has been sent into the network (the WRB T field) and a second that is pending (the WRB P field). Table XIV shows the intervention processing possibilities when a write request message is outstanding. The first line of Table XIV shows the case discussed above with no write request message outstanding. If there is a writeback or relinquish outstanding, no intervention needs to be issued because the presence of the writeback or relinquish indicates that the processor no longer holds the cache line. In the WRBK and WRBKR cases, the data is forwarded from the WRB data buffer to the requester as part of the ERESP message. In the RQSH and RQSHR cases, no data is available and thus only an EACK message needs to be sent. The WRB P field is none in these cases as the processor does not generate further write requests once it has issued a writeback or relinquish message.

[0063]

TABLE XIV
		Issue
WRB T	WRB P	Intervention	Message to	Message to
Field	Field	on FSB?	Directory	Requester
none	none	Yes	(Per Simple	(Per Simple
			Intervention)	Intervention)
BWL	none	No	none	ERESP
BWLR	none	No	PRGER	ERESP
BRQSH	none	No	none	EACK
BRQHR	none	No	PRGER	EACK
BIWE	none	Yes	(See discussion	(See discussion
			below)	below)
	BIWE	Yes	(See discussion	(See discussion
			below)	below)
	BRQSH	No	PRGER	ERESP
	BRQHR	No	PRGER	ERESP
	BWL	No	XFERR	ERESP
	BWLR	No	XFERR	ERESP

[0064] The “I” versions of the messages are sent if the intervention was an ININF. That is, an IRESP instead of an ERESP and an IACK instead of an EACK. Also, the WRBKR case has further complications that result from a possible race between a WRBKR and a PUT message. These complications require that the message to the requester be delayed until the old owner receives either a WBACK or WBBAK. Depending on whether a WBACK or WBBAK is received, the old owner sends either an ERESP or an EACK to the requester.

[0065] Complications occur when there is an implicit writeback (IWE) outstanding in the network. The IWE data in the WRB data buffer may or may not be the most up to date copy of the cache line. If the WRB P field indicates a writeback or relinquish message, then the WRB data is up to date and forwarded to the requestor in an ERESP message. If no write request is pending or if there is a second IWE pending, the intervention is issued on the front side bus to determine whether the processor has modified the cache line since issuing the initial IWE. If the snoop result is HITM, the data from the front side bus is forwarded to the requester and the directory in the same manner as the M state discussed above. If the snoop result is HIT or neither HIT nor HITM, then the data in the WRB data buffer is current and forwarded to the requester as either an ERESP or SRESP message depending on the intervention type. The data is sent to the directory as either a SHWB or XFER depending on the intervention type. The WRB data is not forwarded to the directory if the WRB P field is NONE since the IWE already outstanding in the network contains the up to date copy of the cache line. In this case, a PRGER message is sent instead.

[0066] Implicit writebacks (IWE) are generated when a processor issues a BRL or BRIL and the HITM signal is asserted in the snoop phase indicating that another processor on the bus holds the cache line in a DEX state and will supply the data to the requesting processor. Since the processor asserting HITM is relinquishing ownership of a modified cache line and the requesting processor is not guaranteed to place the cache line in its cache in a DEX state, the cache line could be dropped from all processors on the bus and its contents lost upon a cache to cache transfer. Thus, at the same time the processor asserting HITM is transferring the cache line to the requesting processor, the cache line is read and written back to memory. This writing back to memory in this instance is an implicit writeback. Three implicit writeback cases are discussed below.

[0067] When a requesting processor issues a BRL, the cache line is loaded into the requesting processor's cache in the CEX state and dropped from the owning processor's cache. An implicit writeback message is generated in this instance. The IWE message includes the latest copy of the cache line and indicates that the cache line is being retained in the CEX state by the originator of the IWE message. Since the cache line is now in the CEX state, the new owning processor can write to the cache line and update its state to DEX at any time. If such a write occurs and the state becomes DEX and another processor on the bus issues a BRL, the implicit writeback case will once again arise. This situation may repeat indefinitely, thereby generating an unbounded number of implicit writebacks.

[0068] When a requesting processor issues a BRIL with OWN# not asserted, the cache line is loaded in the CEX state into the requesting processor and is dropped from the cache of the owning processor similar to the BRL case above. When a requesting processor issues a BRIL with OWN# asserted, the requesting processor indicates that it will place the line in its cache in the DEX state rather than the CEX state. An implicit writeback is not required as the requesting processor cannot drop the cache line without first issuing a normal writeback.

[0069] Ordinarily, the most up to date copy of a cache line is in one of two places—the cache of the owning processor or main memory. Obtaining the latest copy of a cache line is simply performed by sending an intervention to the owner. If the intervention retrieves the cache line with state DEX, then the cache line is the latest copy. If the state of the cache line is not DEX, the cache line was dropped or is being written back and the directory will receive the latest copy when the writeback arrives. As a cache line can be written back once, by definition the latest copy of the cache line is received when the writeback arrives. However, implicit writebacks considerably complicate finding the latest copy of a cache line. The problem lies in that the implicit writeback may or may not have the latest copy of the cache line. Only by issuing an intervention can the latest copy of the cache line be discovered. If the intervention finds the cache line in a DEX state, then that is the latest copy. If the cache line has been dropped, then the implicit writeback has the most up to date copy of the cache line. However, the processor can issue multiple implicit writebacks. If the cache line is not in the processor's cache, the protocol scheme needs to ensure that data is retrieved from the most recently issued implicit writeback which may or may not be the one that is in flight in the network or has just been received at the directory.

[0070] FIG. 3 shows an example to alleviate the problem of multiple implicit writebacks flowing through system 10. In FIG. 3, a processor 100 has obtained a copy of a cache line and sends an implicit writeback. The implicit writeback is processed by the front side bus processor interface 24 and sent to the appropriate memory directory interface unit 22 associated with the memory 17 which is the home for the cache line. Upon processing the implicit writeback, memory directory interface unit 22 returns a writeback ACK. Front side bus processor interface 24 receives the writeback ACK to indicate that memory 17 has the same copy of the cache line as processor 100. If changes to the cache line are made by processor 100, it will initiate another writeback, either a normal writeback or an implicit writeback, for each change made to the cache line. Also, ownership of the cache line may pass back and forth between co-located processors 101 in a node, each initiating an implicit or normal writebacks. Instead of processing each and every writeback initiated by processor 100, front side bus processor interface 24 will maintain the, most recent writeback request in a queue 102. For each implicit or normal writeback request received at its queue, front side bus processor interface 24 will discard the previous writeback request. Once front side bus processor interface 24 receives the writeback ACK from memory directory interface unit 22 for the initial implicit writeback, the current writeback request if any in the queue is transferred to memory directory interface unit 22 for processing and the process repeats. If the current writeback request in the queue is an implicit writeback, then the process is repeated. If the current writeback request in the queue is a normal writeback, then any subsequent writebacks are processed in the order they are received. Once an implicit writeback is reached, the above process may be repeated.

[0071] FIG. 3 also shows the events that occur when a remote processor seeks access to the cache line prior to processing of the implicit writeback. After processor 100 initiates an implicit: writeback, to front side bus processor interface 24, a remote processor 200 initiates a read request to memory directory interface unit 22. Memory directory interface unit 22 initiates an intervention for transfer to front side bus processor interface 24 since it thinks that processor 100 is the current owner of the cache line. Memory directory interface unit 22 will also send a speculative response to remote processor 200 since it thinks it has the latest copy of the cache line. Front side bus processor interface 24 receives the intervention but knows it has an implicit writeback to process. The intervention is placed on hold and the implicit writeback is sent to memory directory interface unit 22. Upon processing the implicit writeback, memory directory interface unit 22 sends the writeback ACK. Front side bus processor interface 22 receives the writeback ACK and determines if there is a pending writeback in its queue 102. If so, front side bus processor interface 24 sends out the pending writeback to memory directory interface unit 24 and also sends out a response to remote processor 200 since it has the latest copy of the cache line. In this manner, the latest copy of the cache line may be provided for read requests while a writeback is pending.

[0072] FIG. 4 shows an example of the transfer of ownership of a cache line during a pending writeback. A cache coherence protocol that is based upon supporting nodes with snoopy processor buses that generate implicit writeback operations can cause delay in the transition of ownership to a node/processor if another node/processor already has exclusive ownership and is in the process of writing modified data back to memory. The transfer of ownership provided in FIG. 4 does not rely on the completion of a write to memory from the former owner of a cache line before allowing a new owner to gain exclusive ownership of that cache line. A processor 300 has a modified cache line and initiates either a normal or implicit writeback to front side bus processor interface 24. Prior to transfer of the writeback to memory directory interface unit 22, a remote processor 400 initiates a read request. Memory directory interface unit 22 generates an intervention message in response to the read request and receives the writeback from front side bus processor interface 24. Front side bus processor interface 24 receives the intervention message and, before receiving a writeback ACK from memory directory interface unit 22, sends a response to the intervention message to remote processor 400 that includes the cache line requested by remote processor 400. Remote processor 400 now has ownership of the cache line and can modify it or drop it as desired. If remote processor 400 drops the cache line, the cache line is not lost as the writeback from processor 300 is still pending to preserve the cache line in memory. If remote processor 400 modifies the cache line, a writeback is sent to memory directory interface unit 22 from remote processor 400. If the initial writeback is received at memory directory interface unit 22 first, then it will be processed followed by the writeback from remote processor 400 in a normal manner. If the writeback from remote processor 400 is received first, then memory directory interface unit 22 processes it and updates the cache line data in memory. Upon receiving the writeback from processor 300, memory directory interface 22 will not update the cache line data for this writeback.

[0073] In some circumstances, a processor may obtain ownership of a cache line and not make any changes to the cache line. The processor may just drop the cache line if it no longer needs it. If the processor drops the cache line, the rest of the system does not become aware of the dropping of the cache line and interventions for the cache line will continue to be sent to the processor. To avoid processing of interventions in this scenario, the processor is programmed to send out a relinquish message to let the system know that it is giving up ownership of the cache line. Thus, only those interventions need be processed that were initiated prior to processing of the relinquish message at memory directory interface unit 22. A relinquish message is processed as a data less writeback since it is not modifying the cache line in memory as the memory has the current copy of the cache line due to no changes being made to the cache line at the processor. Once the relinquish command has been processed, memory directory interface unit 22 can directly handle a read request without initiating an intervention to the processor that gave up ownership of the cache line.

[0074] FIG. 5 shows how memory latency can be reduced during read requests. System 10 is a distributed shared memory system with nodes based on snoopy processor buses. When processor 500 makes a read request, a snoop operation is performed at a colocated processor 600 on the local bus. Before the snoop operation is completed, the read request is forwarded from front side bus processor interface 24 to a local or remote memory directory interface unit 22 for processing. If the snoop operation determines that the cache line needed is held in colocated processor 600 by indicating a processor hit and the data being modified, the data is provided to processor 500 by colocated processor 600 over the local bus for its use. Memory directory, interface unit 22 processes the read request and forwards a response to front side bus processor interface 24. Front side bus processor interface 24 sees that the snoop operation satisfied the read request and subsequently discards or ignores the response from memory directory interface unit 22.

[0075] If the snoop operation determines that the cache line is not available locally, then the cache line is obtained by processor 500 through normal processing of the read request. Memory directory interface unit 22 obtains the cache line from memory or fetches the cache line from a remote processor 605 if it has a modified version of the cache line. If processor 500 obtains the data from processor 600, processor 500 may place a writeback request to update the home memory for the data. The writeback request includes an indication that there is an outstanding read request in the system. In case the writeback request is received at memory interface an outstanding read request in the system. In case the writeback request is received at memory interface unit 22 prior to the read request, the writeback request provides the necessary indication to memory directory interface unit that the read request is not to be processed.

[0076] FIG. 6 shows how cache flushes can be performed in system 10. Conventionally, a request to flush a cache in a local bus system provides a mechanism to have the memory maintain the only copy of a cache line with no processor maintaining a copy of the cache line. The local bus system is not aware of the other processors on other local buses having a copy of the flushed cache line in an implementation such as system 10. The technique of FIG. 6 extends the local bus system flush capability to the distributed shared memory multiprocessor computer system of system 10. A processor 600 initiates a flush request for a particular cache line. Processor interface 24 receives the flush request and performs a snoop operation to determine whether the cache line is maintained in any local processor and then whether the cache line has been modified. If the snoop result is that the cache line is maintained locally and has been modified, processor interface 22 initiates removal of the cache line from the cache of the identified processor. The identified processor initiates a writeback for transfer to memory directory interface unit 22 associated with the home memory 17 for the data in order to preserve its modifications.

[0077] If the snoop result is that the cache line is not maintained locally or the cache line has not been modified, processor interface 24 forwards the flush request to memory directory interface unit 22 associated with home memory 17 of the cache line. The local processors having an unmodified copy of the cache line may be flushed of the cache line at this point. Memory directory interface unit 22 determines which processors in system 10 maintain a copy of the cache line. The flush request is then forwarded to the identified processors for appropriate action. If an identified processor has a modified copy of the cache line, it removes the modified copy from its cache and forwards the modified copy in a writeback request to memory directory interface unit 22 for memory 17 update.

[0078] Thus, it is apparent that there has been provided, in accordance with the present invention, a system and method for handling updates to memory in a distributed shared memory system that satisfy the advantages set forth above. Although the present invention has been described in detail it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations may be made herein. For example, though shown as individual protocols schemes, different combinations of message processing may be performed according to the protocol scheme. Other examples may be readily ascertainable by those skilled in the art and may be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.