TLB update-hint: A scalable TLB consistency algorithm for cache-coherent non-uniform memory access multiprocessors

Abstract

Shared memory multiprocessors in which each processor has its own TLB must manage consistency among TLBs and a page table. As the large-scale CC-NUMA (cache-coherent non-uniform memory access) shared memory multiprocessors become popular, it is important for TLB consistency management algorithms to be highly scalable. In this paper, we propose a TLB update-hint algorithm as a scalable TLB consistency management solution for CC-NUMA multiprocessors. By using a lazy TLB invalidation approach, we reduced the number of unnecessary processor interruptions and idle-waiting time, and achieved a high level of scalability. Using a shared memory simulator, we evaluated the TLB update-hint algorithm. For performance comparison, we also simulated the TLB shootdown algorithm, one of the most popular TLB consistency algorithms. The simulations demonstrated that the TLB update-hint algorithm scales well in systems with a large number of processors. At 64 node systems, the TLB update-hint algorithm shows 47similar to87% better performance than the TLB shootdown algorithm.