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Write Buffer and Read Buffer
Élan™SC520 Microcontroller User’s Manual
11-11
request to acquire the next cache line. The demanded read cycle implies that the first
doubleword request by the master will be serviced first, such that the master can continue
while the remainder of the cache line is prefetched.
If the read-ahead feature of the read buffer is enabled, a prefetch occurs only for master
read access that results in a burst of two or more doublewords. Single doubleword read
requests do not result in a read-ahead prefetch and only result in the cache line of the
demanded access being read into the read buffer. GP-DMA read accesses are always a
single doubleword.
To maintain coherency in the system, each cache line of the read buffer has associated
with it a valid bit that represents the validity of the cache line. Both cache-line valid bits are
cleared on the occurrence of master write access to SDRAM or a write buffer write access
to SDRAM that hits a cache line currently available in the read buffer.
11.5.3
DMA Considerations
The read buffer and its associated read-ahead feature provide optimum performance for
burst-capable masters (during read cycles) that maintain long bus tenure (with burst
transfers of two or more doublewords). Most masters with burst capability burst forward an
entire cache line. For these masters, the read-ahead feature provides optimum
performance, such that the anticipated data prefetch will result in a read buffer hit.
■
The read-ahead feature performs well during Am5
x
86 CPU burst reads (which usually
result in full cache-line burst when the cache is enabled). During cache-line fills, the
Am5
x
86 CPU can maintain bus tenure for more than one burst transfer, such that
successive bursts will be satisfied by read buffer prefetch hits.
■
Also, during PCI master read burst requests, the read-ahead feature of the read buffer
performs equally well for PCI master tenure to SDRAM that requests a cache line of data.
■
However, since the GP-DMA controller supports multiple channels and is capable of
operating in either single, demand or block transfer modes, it is possible that the read
buffer performance during GP-DMA transfers becomes dependent on the GP-DMA
channel configurations.
As mentioned earlier, the SDRAM controller always fetches an entire cache line from
SDRAM during a read request, even if the read-ahead feature is disabled. Since DMA
transfers are
non-burst (i.e., single doubleword requests), even if the read-ahead feature
is enabled, only the rest of the cache line is fetched, rather than the rest of the cache line
and the following cache line, as would be seen during burst transfers of two or more
doublewords.
■
A DMA channel configured for incrementing order that starts at the beginning of a cache
line takes full advantage of read buffer hit, since all following incrementing access should
result in a read buffer hit up to the cache-line boundary, assuming demand or block
transfer mode.
■
DMA transfers that are configured for decrement mode will also see a read buffer benefit,
since the remainder of the cache line is fetched. For DMA transfers that are configured
for decrement mode, maximum read buffer performance is seen when the first access
is at the end of a cache-line boundary.
DMA transfer mode types can have a direct impact on read buffer performance. It would
be ideal for the same DMA channel to hit the read buffer as much as possible during its
tenure.
Содержание Elan SC520
Страница 1: ...lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual Order 22004A...
Страница 4: ...iv lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 28: ...Introduction xxviii lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 42: ...Architectural Overview 1 14 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 78: ...System Initialization 3 22 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 108: ...Clock Generation and Control 5 10 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 118: ...Reset Generation 6 10 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 148: ...System Arbitration 8 24 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 214: ...SDRAM Controller 10 36 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 230: ...Write Buffer and Read Buffer 11 16 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 288: ...GP Bus DMA Controller 14 22 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 316: ...Programmable Interval Timer 16 8 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 328: ...Software Timer 18 4 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 346: ...Real Time Clock 20 12 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 360: ...UART Serial Ports 21 14 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...
Страница 414: ...AMDebug Technology 26 8 lan SC520 Microcontroller User s Manual...