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Glossary
ARM DUI 0553A
Copyright © 2010 ARM. All rights reserved.
Glossary-5
ID121610
Non-Confidential
Write-back (WB)
In a write-back cache, data is only written to main memory when it is forced out of the cache on
line replacement following a cache miss. Otherwise, writes by the processor only update the
cache. This is also known as copyback.
Write buffer
A block of high-speed memory, arranged as a FIFO buffer, between the data cache and main
memory, whose purpose is to optimize stores to main memory.
Write-through (WT)
In a write-through cache, data is written to main memory at the same time as the cache is
updated.