A Cache Controller to Maximize Effectiveness of Hierarchical Memory Architecture

A cache architecture is proposed here which evokes prefetch at level 1 cache miss. Existing structures only prefetch at level 2 cache miss. In the proposed cache architecture, level 1 cache miss would select demand fetch block and prefetch block from the level 2 cache and store to level 1 cache and prefetch cache, respectively. According to an experimental analysis using 11 benchmark programs, the hierarchical cache architecture that employs both a level 1 cache prefetcher and a level 2 cache prefetcher obtained a maximum increased performance when compared to the cache architecture that employs only a level 2 cache prefetcher.