CODEWITHSUNDEEP
algorithmcaching
sethu
sethu

Reputation: 1721

Few basic doubts regarding caches

Please bear with me , these questions may be very basic . I am just trying to understand the fundamentals.

  1. Are the cache eviction algorithms such as LRU are implemented by the OS ?? if so , how can we find out the current algorithm being used and is it possible for the programer to change it ?

  2. Since cache is along with processor , the read and write policies are hardcoded or the operating system decides it ?

  3. Are there separate caches for data and instructions ? or do they share the same cache ?

  4. What are the algorithms currently employed in operating systems to solve cache coherency problem ?

Thanks for your patience in answering my questions.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 114

Answers (2)

Nils
Nils

Reputation: 13767

Just one answer? Well

1.) No hardware implemented. They should be documented by the vendor, if not then microbenchmarking is an option.

2.) Hardware

3.) As pointed out above L1 cache has separate caches for data and instruction. There is also TLB for virtual memory.

4.) I attended a course last semester which covers these topics. The slides are available online: http://www.systems.ethz.ch/education/past-courses/hs09/mmdbms

Upvotes: 0

Oliver Charlesworth
Oliver Charlesworth

Reputation: 272467

In general, the cache policy is dictated by hardware. There are typically separate data and instruction caches, as well as a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) cache. The OS has no direct control of cache, but it may make decisions in virtual-memory mappings to optimise cache usage.

Upvotes: 1

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