Seamless Cache Extension for FPGA-based Multi-Core RISC-V SoC

Research output: Contribution to conferencesPaperContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Managing cache coherence is essential for optimizing computing performance and energy efficiency in modern multi-/many-core systems. Enabling cache coherence in scalable agile hardware architectures, particularly within RISC-V-based architectures, demands further optimizations regarding interconnect fabric, memory hierarchy, and core-level modifications. In this work, we present a modular and seamless data cache subsystem extension for RISC-V-based multi-core architectures. The proposed data cache sub-system features a full hardware method for cache coherence based on a snooping coherence scheme. The cache sub-system supports scalable multi-core architectures with different core counts. For evaluation, a coherent multi-core architecture with four RISC-V cores is implemented with the proposed data cache sub-system targeting an AMD/Xilinx Virtex Ultrascale+ FPGA device. Several benchmark kernels are used for performance evaluation in terms of memory access time, achievable execution time, and cache hit rate. The average achievable cache hit rate is greater than 90 % with a small hardware overhead.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages1-6
Number of pages6
Publication statusPublished - 5 Nov 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

Conference

Title37th IEEE International System-on-Chip Conference
Abbreviated titleSOCC 2024
Conference number37
Duration16 - 19 September 2024
Website
LocationBörse Dresden
CityDresden
CountryGermany

External IDs

Scopus 85210565396
ORCID /0000-0003-2571-8441/work/184003458

Keywords

Keywords

  • Cache Coherency, Multi-Core SoC, RISC-V