Reconfigurable Split Data Caches: A Novel Scheme for Embedded Systems

This paper shows that even very small reconfigurable data caches, when split to serve data streams exhibiting temporal and spatial localities, can improve performance of embedded applications without consuming excessive silicon real estate or power. It also shows that neither higher set-associativities nor large block sizes are necessary with reconfigurable split cache organizations. We use benchmark programs from the MiBench suite to show that our cache organization outperforms an 8k unified data cache in terms of miss rates, access times, energy consumption and silicon area. Finally we show how the saved area can be utilized for supporting techniques for improving performance of embedded systems. Our design enables the cache to be divided into multiple partitions that can be used for different processor activities other than conventional caching. In this paper we have evaluated one of those options to support “prefetching”.