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GoogleGranted patentChips & hardwareInterest 2/10

Google patents chip feature to skip useless memory checks

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

This patent describes a method for processor cores to quickly ignore memory update requests that do not affect them. It uses a small list of past activities to decide if a detailed check is needed, saving time and energy.

Why it mattersIt is a minor efficiency improvement for computer chips that helps them run slightly faster and cooler by avoiding unnecessary work.

In the filing’s own words

Implementations described herein relate to filtering translation invalidation messages within a core of a processor based on a context table. A core may include an address translation cache and a context table storing contexts in which the core has operated. A translation invalidation controller within the core may identify a context from a received translation invalidation message. Based on the context and the context table, the controller may determine if the address translation cache lacks entries targeted by the message. If so, the message may be discharged without accessing the address translation cache. This can reduce latency and processing overhead by avoiding unnecessary scans of the address translation cache for irrelevant messages. Corresponding processors and cores are also disclosed.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: identifying a context to which a message corresponds, the message being a translation invalidation message received by a first core of a processor from a second core of the processor; determining, based on the context to which the message corresponds and a context table configured to store contexts in which the first core has operated, that an address translation cache of the first core lacks any entry targeted by the message; and based on the determining that the address translation cache lacks any entry targeted by the message, discharging the message without accessing the address translation cache.

Facts

Company
Google (GOOGLE LLC)
Official title
Translation invalidation filtering based on a context table within a processor core
Patent number
US12769667B1
Application number
19225679
Filed
Jun 2, 2025
Granted
Oct 20, 2026
Inventors
6
Claims
20

Classified under

G06F 12/0891 Physics & computingG06F 9/30043 Physics & computingG06F 12/0864 Physics & computingG06F 12/1045 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.