Microsoft patents faster data transfers by pre-loading address maps
Microsoft describes a method where a processor tells an input/output device where to send data before the transfer starts. It also sends a signal to a memory manager to pre-load the address translation needed for that data, saving time during the actual transfer.
In the filing’s own words
In one example of the present technology, a method includes sending, by a CPU core of a processor, a direct memory access (DMA) stream setup command to an input/output (I/O) device, the DMA stream setup command comprising a virtual address; and sending, from the CPU core of the processor, a prefetch message comprising the virtual address to an input/output memory management unit (IOMMU) to cause the IOMMU to: prefetch a translation of the virtual address into a corresponding physical address from a main memory; and store the translation of the virtual address into the corresponding physical address in a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) of the IOMMU.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to prime a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) of an input/output memory management unit (IOMMU) by: sending, by a CPU core of the processor, a DMA stream setup command to an input/output (I/O) device, the DMA stream setup command comprising a virtual address; and sending, from the CPU core of the processor, a prefetch message comprising the virtual address to the IOMMU to cause the IOMMU to: prefetch a translation of the virtual address into a corresponding physical address from a main memory; and store the translation of the virtual address into the corresponding physical address in the TLB of the IOMMU.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- ADDRESS TRANSLATION PREFETCHING FOR INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICES
- Publication number
- US20260267807A1
- Application number
- 19666726
- Filed
- May 4, 2026
- Published
- Sep 10, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 12/1063 Physics & computingG06F 12/0238 Physics & computingG06F 12/063 Physics & computingG06F 12/0862 Physics & computingG06F 12/1054 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in Chips & hardware
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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.