Pre-fetching with the segmented LRU algorithm

An economical solution to the need for unlimited amounts of fast memory is a memory hierarchy, which takes advantage of locality and cost/performance of memory technologies. Most of the advanced block replacement algorithms exploit the presence of temporal locality in programs towards a better performing cache. A direct fallout of this approach is the increased overhead involved due to the complexity of the algorithm without any drastic improvement in the cache performance. The performance of the cache could be improved if spatial locality present in the programs is further exploited. Prefetching of data into the cache even before it is requested is considered to be an effective means of improving the utilization of spatial locality within a stream of references. The Segmented-LRU (S-LRU) algorithm is an advanced block replacement algorithm that reduces the problem of flooding in the cache. This paper investigates the impact of pre-fetching on a cache employing the S-LRU block replacement algorithm.