METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SELECTIVELY PERFORMING EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT DATA LINE READS

摘要

A method and apparatus are described for selectively performing explicit and implicit data line reads. When a data line request is received, a determination is made as to whether there are currently sufficient data resources to perform an implicit data line read. If there are not currently sufficient data resources to perform an implicit data line read, a time period (number of clock cycles) before sufficient data resources will become available to perform an implicit data line read is estimated. A determination is then made as to whether the estimated time period exceeds a threshold. An explicit tag request is generated if the estimated time period exceeds the threshold. If the estimated time period does not exceed the threshold, the generation of a tag request is delayed until sufficient data resources become available. An implicit tag request is then generated.