Scalable shared-cache management by containing thrashing workloads

Abstract

Multi-core processors with shared last-level caches are vulnerable to performance inefficiencies and fairness issues when the cache is not carefully managed between the multiple cores. Cache partitioning is an effective method for isolating poorly-interacting threads from each other, but designing a mechanism with simple logic and low area overhead will be important for incorporating such schemes in future embedded multi-core processors. In this work, we identify that major performance problems only arise when one or more "thrashing" applications exist. We propose a simple yet effective Thrasher Caging (TC) cache management scheme that specifically targets these thrashing applications. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.