Architecture of a VLSI instruction cache for a RISC
David A. Patterson, Phil Garrison, Mark Hill, Dimitris Lioupis, Chris Nyberg, Tim Sippel, Korbin S. Van Dyke · 1983
A cache was first used in a commercial computer in 1968,1 and researchers have spent the last 15 years analyzing caches and suggesting improvements. In designing a VLSI instruction cache for a RISC microprocessor we have uncovered four ideas potentially applicable to other VLSI machines. These ideas provide expansible cache memory, increased cache speed, reduced program code size, and decreased manufacturing costs. These improvements blur the habitual distinction between an instruction cache and an instruction fetch unit.