CACHE MEMORIES FOR DATA-FLOW SYSTEMS

The dataflow model of computation, particularly the recent trend in co mbining dataflow processing with control-how processing, provides attr active alternatives for designing new computer architectures. This mar riage has also motivated researchers to analyze how to apply the famil iar concepts within the framework of this new architectural model. The concept of cache memory has proven its effectiveness in the tradition al control-flow architecture because of the spatial and temporal local ities that govern the organization of the conventional programming env ironment. Therefore, the authors investigate the presence of localitie s in dataflow programs and analyze whether the cache can be incorporat ed into dataflow architectures. Addressing the application of cache me mory in the dataflow environment, the authors compare the control-flow and dataflow programming environments, address previous work to incor porate cache in the dataflow computation, and discuss how to improve a nd detect locality in a dataflow program.