Cache Access Fabric Router Selection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of processor cores in servers leads to rising power usage in mesh fabrics that connect processors to cache devices, necessitating a solution to reduce or limit power consumption while maintaining effective cache access.
Innovation Solution
A cache fabric is designed with a first layer of routers and a second layer of clusters of cache controllers, where routers select the appropriate cache controllers based on memory access requests and forward them to the correct cache devices, enabling efficient data retrieval and handling of cache misses through a network of interconnected cache controllers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a mesh fabric connects increasing numbers of processor cores to cache devices, then cache accessibility and bandwidth are improved, but power usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mesh fabric is segmented into multiple domains, each domain containing a subset of router nodes and cache devices. This segmentation allows the fabric to be divided into smaller, independently manageable units that can be activated or deactivated based on workload requirements, reducing overall power consumption while maintaining necessary cache access bandwidth through selective domain activation.
Solution Approach 2:
Domain router nodes are introduced as intermediary components that manage traffic between different domains and serve as local cache controllers. These domain routers act as mediators that can handle cache access requests locally within a domain, reducing the need for long-distance communications across the entire mesh fabric and enabling more efficient power management through localized control.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a mesh fabric connects increasing numbers of processor cores to cache devices, then cache accessibility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mesh fabric is divided into multiple domains with each domain containing a manageable subset of router nodes and cache devices. This segmentation reduces the complexity of individual domain controllers while maintaining overall fabric accessibility, as each domain can be independently managed and configured without affecting the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
The fabric architecture introduces a domain dimension overlaying the traditional mesh structure. This adds an organizational layer that groups router nodes and cache devices into domains, providing a hierarchical management approach that simplifies routing and control while preserving the underlying mesh connectivity and accessibility.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples described herein relate to a cache fabric that includes a first layer of a group of routers and includes a second layer of a plurality of clusters of cache controllers. A router of the group of routers can be accessible via an interface that is to receive a memory access request from a processor and select from a group of cache controllers based on a cluster identifier and memory address and provide the memory access request to the selected group of cache controllers. The selected group of cache controllers can receive the memory access request and service a memory access request from a cache device or forward the memory access request to a second cache controller associated with the cache device or a second cache device.