Key Techniques of Cache Coherence Protocol for Multi-Core Processor

How to maintain the cache coherence becomes an intractable issue as the multi-core scales and communication mechanism between cores is complicated.After introducing the background of cache coherence in multi-core processor,this paper analyses the principles of traditional cache coherence protocols based on snooping,directory,Token and Hammer,respectively.The advantages and disadvantages are discussed in detail.Finally,the development trends and potential challenges are explored from the perspective of co-design of coherence protocol and on-chip interconnection,power-aware cache coherence policy,verification of coherence protocol,and fault-tolerant coherence protocol,respectively.