DESIGN TRADEOFFS FOR SOFTWARE-MANAGED TLBS

An increasing number of architectures provide virtual memory support t hrough software-managed TLBs. However, software management can impose considerable penalties that are highly dependent on the operating syst em's structure and its use of virtual memory. This work explores softw are-managed TLB design tradeoffs and their interaction with a range of monolithic and microkernel operating systems. Through hardware monito ring and simulation, we explore TLB performance for benchmarks running on a MIPS R2000-based workstation running Ultrix, OSF/1, and three ve rsions of Mach 3.0.