[Gems-users] Timeout implementation in caches

[Mohammad Mottaghi <m_mottaghi@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi !

I have a cache consistency protocol in which memory blocks are kept for a longer time by some cores. 

Obviously no core can hold a block forever and it needs to release the ownership of the bock.

I need a mechanism for informing my caches about time lapse.

Specifically a deadlock can happen in my protocol and to break the deadlock, caches need to have some sense of time lapse such that I can implement a time-out mechanism.

I can use incoming events to a cache as an indicator of time-lapse but the problem is that sometimes once a deadlock happens between two cores no more messages are sent from the directory to the caches and my clock stops.

So I need to connect the processor clock to my cache such that in any case I would be able to receive clock pulses (even if there is a deadlock) for implementing a timeout mechanism using a down-counter.

How can I do that with SLICC?

Thank you in advance