Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!exodus!cortex.Eng.Sun.COM!rtrauben From: rtrauben@cortex.Eng.Sun.COM (Richard Trauben) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: How about CACHE based registers, was: more registers for ix86 Message-ID: <5820@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> Date: 12 Jan 91 16:14:08 GMT References: <1991Jan6.014925.10935@zoo.toronto.edu> <47789@apple.Apple.COM> <4300@skye.cs.ed.ac.uk> <47986@apple.Apple.COM> Sender: news@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca. Lines: 9 >It is not clear to me that cache based register are a win. They might be, >but it not clear, and I have heard counterexamples. >The ATT CRISP uses essentially a multi-ported cache for their 'registers' The initial CRISP design made no attempt to keep the stack cache consistent with the memory hierarchy. Processes on different CRISP processors in an MP machine that shared a stack were asking for subsequent implementations revised this policy.if -richard