MINC - MULTISTAGE INTERCONNECTION NETWORK WITH CACHE CONTROL MECHANISM

A novel approach to the cache coherent Multi stage Interconnection Net work (MIN) called the MINC (MIN with Cache control mechanism) is propo sed. In the MINC, the directory is located only on the shared memory u sing the Reduced Hierarchical Bit-map Directory schemes (RHBDs). In th e RHBD, the bit-map directory is reduced and carried in the packet hea der for quick multicasting without accessing the directory in each hie rarchy. In order to reduce unnecessary packets caused by compacting th e bit map in the RHBD; a small cache called the pruning cache is intro duced in the switching element. The simulation reveals the pruning cac he works most effectively when it is provided in every switching eleme nt of the first stage, and it reduces the congestion more than 50% wit h only 4 entries. The MINC cache control chip with 16 inputs/outputs i s implemented on the LPGA (Laser Programmable Gate Array), and works w ith a 66 MHz clock.