APPARATUS AND METHOD TO PRESERVE DATA IN A SET ASSOCIATIVE MEMORY DEVICE

An apparatus and method to dynamically partition a set-associative memory device is described. The apparatus includes a set identification device to specify a group of set-associative data blocks in a cache memory or translation-lookaside buffer. A block replacement logic circuit is used to identify replaceable blocks within the set-associative data blocks that can store new information. The block replacement logic circuit is also used to identify un-replaceable blocks within the set-associative data blocks that cannot store new information. The block replacement logic circuit only writes new information to the replaceable blocks of the set-associative data blocks. The block replacement logic circuit can be implemented using a block replacement mask to identify within the set-associative data blocks the replaceable blocks and the un-replaceable blocks.