An apparatus and method to de-allocate data in a cache memory is disclosed. Using a clock that has a predetermined number of periods, the invention provides a usage timeframe information to approximate the usage information. The de-allocation decisions can then be made based on the usage timeframe i...http://www.google.de/patents/US7275135?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7275135 - Hardware updated metadata for non-volatile mass storage cache
