Cache Memory: An Analysis on Performance Issues

Abstract

Cache memory is mainly inculcated in systems to overcome the gap created in-between the main memory and CPUs due to their performance issues. Since, the speed of the processors is ever-increasing, so a need arises for a faster speed cache memory that can definitely assist in bridging the gap between the speed of processor and memory. Therefore, this paper proposes architecture circumscribed with three improvement techniques namely victim cache, sub-blocks, and memory bank. These three techniques will be implemented one after other to improve and make the speed and performance of cache comparative to main memory. Moreover, the different variables like miss penalty ratio, access speed of cache and miss rate ratio, which were already in use, are used in this paper to estimate the cache memory performance after implementation of proposed approach. After performance estimation it can be determined that proposed approach at level 1, using Victim Cache technique decreases the rate of misses, at level 2, Subblocks Division technique further reduces the penalty ratio of miss rate and then at level 3 Memory Bank Technique is useful in further decreasing memory access time. Thus, using the suggested approach, performance of Cache Memory can be improved several times.