Sum Addressed Decoder - Ignoring The LSBs: Late Select On Carry

Ignoring The LSBs: Late Select On Carry

The formulation above checks the entire result of an add. However, in a CPU cache decoder, the entire result of the add is a byte address, and the cache is usually indexed with a larger address, in our example, that of an 8-byte block. It is preferable to ignore a few of the LSBs of the address. However, the LSBs of the two addends can't be ignored because they may produce a carry-out which would change the doubleword addressed.

If R and O are added to get some index I, then the actual address Addr is equal to either I, or I + 1, depending on whether R+O generates a carry-out. Both I and I+1 can be fetched if there are two banks of SRAM, one with even addresses and one with odd. The even bank holds addresses 000xxx, 010xxx, 100xxx, 110xxx, etc., and the odd bank holds addresses 001xxx, 011xxx, 101xxx, 111xxx, etc. The carry-out from R+O can then be used to select the even or odd doubleword fetched later.

Note that fetching from two half-size banks of SRAM will dissipate more power than fetching from one full-size bank, since we are switching more sense amps and data steering logic.

Read more about this topic:  Sum Addressed Decoder

Famous quotes containing the words ignoring the, ignoring, late, select and/or carry:

    We had won. Pimps got out of their polished cars and walked the streets of San Francisco only a little uneasy at the unusual exercise. Gamblers, ignoring their sensitive fingers, shook hands with shoeshine boys.... Beauticians spoke to the shipyard workers, who in turn spoke to the easy ladies.... I thought if war did not include killing, I’d like to see one every year. Something like a festival.
    Maya Angelou (b. 1928)

    There is no philosophy without the art of ignoring objections.
    Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)

    The fire I praise was once perduring flame
    Till it snuffs with our generation out;
    No matter, it’s all one, it’s but a name
    Not as late honeysuckle half so stout....
    Allen Tate (1899–1979)

    We must select the Illusion which appeals to our temperament and embrace it with passion, if we want to be happy.
    Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)

    Most parents aren’t even aware of how often they compare their children. . . . Comparisons carry the suggestion that specific conditions exist for parental love and acceptance. Thus, even when one child comes out on top in a comparison she is left feeling uneasy about the tenuousness of her position and the possibility of faring less well in the next comparison.
    Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)