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4–40
Clocks, Cache, and External Interface
29 September 1997 – Subject To Change
System-Initiated Transactions
4.8.2 Write Invalidate Protocol Commands
All 21164PC-based systems that use the write invalidate protocol are expected to use
the READ, FLUSH, and INVALIDATE commands to maintain cache coherency.
These commands are defined in Table 4–9.
Table 4–9 System-Initiated Interface Commands (Write Invalidate
Protocol)
Command
cmd_h
<3:0>
Description
NOP
0000
The NOP command is driven by the owner of the cmd_h<3:0>
bus when it has no tasks queued.
FLUSH
0001
Remove block from caches; return dirty data. The FLUSH com-
mand causes a block to be removed from the 21164PC cache sys-
tem.
If the block is not found, the 21164PC responds with NOACK.
If the block is found and is clean, the 21164PC responds with
NOACK. The block is invalidated in the Dcache and Bcache.
If the block is found and is dirty, the 21164PC responds with
ACK/Bcache and the Bcache read operation begins in the same
sysclk cycle as the ACK. The block is invalidated in the Dcache
and Bcache.
INVALIDATE
0010
Remove the block. When the system issues the INVALIDATE
command, the 21164PC probes its Bcache. If the block is found,
the 21164PC responds with ACK/Bcache and invalidates the
block. If the block is not found, the 21164PC responds with a
NOACK.
READ
0100
Read a block. The READ command probes the Bcache to see if
the requested block is present.
If the block is present and is dirty, the 21164PC responds with
ACK/Bcache and the Bcache read operation begins in the same
sysclk cycle as the ACK.
If the block is not present or is present and clean, the 21164PC
responds with a NOACK on addr_res_h<1:0>.