Definition
Cache Associativity
Cache associativity describes how many blocks in a cache are available as possible locations for a given main-memory block.
Associativity reduces conflict misses.
Examples
-way set-associative Cache In an
-way set-associative cache, each memory block maps to exactly one cache set, and can be placed in any of the blocks of that set.
Direct Mapped Cache
A direct-mapped cache has associativity
, while a fully associative cache allows placement in any cache block.