What is claimed is:
1. A method in a data processing system for processing a class of cache lines with a least recently used cache management process, the method comprising:
selecting a first member in the class of cache lines as a first substitute victim, wherein the first substitute victim is unselectable by the least recently used cache management process and wherein the second substitute victim is associated with a selected member in the class of cache lines;
selecting a second member in the class of cache lines as a second substitute victim, wherein the second substitute victim is unselectable by the least recently used cache management process and wherein the second substitute victim is associated with the selected member in the class of cache lines; and
replacing one of the first substitute victim or the second substitute victim in response to a selection of the selected member as a victim in response to a cache miss in the data processing system, wherein the selected member remains in the class of cache lines.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected member is associated with the first substitute victim and the second substitute victim using a pointer.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the class of cache lines is defined by a least recently used tree.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
crediting a cache hit on the first substitute victim or the second substitute victim back to the selected member.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the class is a congruence class.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the congruence class includes ten members.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein a selection between the first substitute and the second substitute victim is made using a toggle bit.
8. A data processing system comprising:
a cache directory containing a class of cache lines; and
victim selection logic connected to the class directory, wherein the victim selection logic selects a first member in the class of cache lines as a first substitute victim, wherein the first substitute victim is unselectable by the least recently used cache management process and wherein the second substitute victim is associated with a selected member in the class of cache lines; selects a second member in the class of cache lines as a second substitute victim, wherein the second substitute victim is unselectable by the least recently used cache management process and wherein the second substitute victim is associated with the selected member in the class of cache lines; and replaces one of the first substitute victim or the second substitute victim in response to a selection of the selected member as a victim in response to a cache miss in the data processing system, wherein the selected member remains in the class of cache lines.
9. A data processing system for processing a class of cache lines with a least recently used cache management process, the data processing system comprising:
First selecting means for selecting a first member in the class of cache lines as a first substitute victim, wherein the first substitute victim is unselectable by the least recently used cache management process and wherein the second substitute victim is associated with a selected member in the class of cache lines;
second selecting means for selecting a second member in the class of cache lines as a second substitute victim, wherein the second substitute victim is unselectable by the least recently used cache management process and wherein the second substitute victim is associated with the selected member in the class of cache lines; and
replacing means for replacing one of the first substitute victim or the second substitute victim in response to a selection of the selected member as a victim in response to a cache miss in the data processing system, wherein the selected member remains in the class of cache lines.
10. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein the selected member is associated with the first substitute victim and the second substitute victim using a pointer.
11. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein the class of cache lines is defined by a least recently used tree.
12. The data processing system of claim 9 further comprising:
crediting means for crediting a cache hit on the first substitute victim or the second substitute victim back to the selected member.
13. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein the class is a congruence class.
14. The data processing system of claim 13, wherein the congruence class includes ten members.
15. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein a selection between the first substitute and the second substitute victim is made using a toggle bit.
16. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for processing a class of cache lines with a least recently used cache management process, the computer program product comprising:
first instructions for selecting a first member in the class of cache lines as a first substitute victim, wherein the first substitute victim is unselectable by the least recently used cache management process and wherein the second substitute victim is associated with a selected member in the class of cache lines;
second instructions for selecting a second member in the class of cache lines as a second substitute victim, wherein the second substitute victim is unselectable by the least recently used cache management process and wherein the second substitute victim is associated with the selected member in the class of cache lines; and
third instructions for replacing one of the first substitute victim or the second substitute victim in response to a selection of the selected member as a victim in response to a cache miss in the data processing system, wherein the selected member remains in the class of cache lines.
17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the selected member is associated with the first substitute victim and the second substitute victim using a pointer.
18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the class of cache lines is defined by a least recently used tree.
19. The computer program product of claim 16 further comprising:
fourth instructions for crediting a cache hit on the first substitute victim or the second substitute victim back to the selected member.
20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the class is a congruence class.
21. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the congruence class includes ten members.
22. The method of claim 15, wherein a selection between the first substitute and the second substitute victim is made using a toggle bit.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for playing a multi-player video game, the method comprising:
generating, in accordance with execution of a video game program by a computer, a virtual game world including multiple player-controllable game characters;
generating, by the computer, images of the virtual game world for display on a display screen;
receiving, by the computer, during the playing of the video game, game character movement control signals, the game character movement control signals being based on inputs to input devices, each used by a respective player, for controlling a corresponding game character in the virtual game world;
controlling, by the computer, movements of each game character in the virtual game world in accordance with the respective game character movement control signals;
in response to satisfaction of a first condition during the playing of the multi-player video game, controlling, by the computer, the virtual game world so that a first one of the game characters controlled by a first one of the game players becomes a protected game character protected from harm in the virtual game world, wherein, when the first condition is satisfied, an initial position of the protected first game character is substantially the same as a position of the first game character at a time the first condition is satisfied;
in response to satisfaction of a second condition during the playing of the multi-player video game, controlling, by the computer, the virtual game world so that the first game character becomes a protected game character protected from harm in the virtual game world, wherein, when the second condition is satisfied, an initial position of the protected first game character is displaced from a position of the first game character at a time the second condition is satisfied;
controlling, by the computer, movements of the protected first game character in the virtual game world; and
stopping the protecting of the protected first game character in response to any one of one or more protecting stopping conditions.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first condition is satisfied without an end to the life of the first game character and the second condition is satisfied with an end of the life of the first game character.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein:
a game screen is displayed so that the game screen is scrollable; and
in response to satisfaction of the second condition, an initial position of the protected first game character is displaced from the position where the first game character was at the time of satisfaction of the second condition in accordance with a direction in which the game screen is scrolled.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein permitted movements of the protected first game character in the virtual game world differ from permitted movements of the first game character in the virtual game world as an unprotected game character before being protected from harm.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the permitted movements of the protected first game character are limited relative to the permitted movements of the unprotected first game character.
6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the permitted movements of the protected first game character exclude free control of the movements of the protected first game character by the first player.
7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the permitted movements of the protected first game character are limited to a direction determined based on a virtual game world state when a predetermined input is supplied to the input device of the first player.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined input comprises shaking the input device.
9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined input causes the protected first game character to move in a direction of another game character.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the protected first game character is visually distinguished from other unprotected game characters.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the protected first game character is visually distinguished by an object which surrounds or wraps around the first game character.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein a first protecting stopping condition comprises contact between the protected first game character and an unprotected game character.
13. The method according to claim 1, wherein a first protecting stopping condition comprises contact between the protected first game character and a projectile.
14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stopping of protecting is further conditioned on the protected first game character not penetrating a geographic surface feature in the virtual game world.
15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first condition comprises a predetermined input by the first player.
16. A video game system comprising:
input devices; and
a processing system configured to execute a multi-player video game program in which multiple players each supply inputs to a respective input device to control a corresponding game character in a virtual game world displayed on a display screen, the video game program being stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and comprising instructions for:
generating a virtual game world;
generating images of the virtual game world for display on a display screen;
receiving, during the playing of the video game, game character movement control signals, the game character movement control signals being based on inputs to the input devices;
controlling movements of each game character in the virtual game world in accordance with the respective first game character movement control signals;
in response to satisfaction of a first condition during the playing of the multi-player video game, controlling, by the computer, the virtual game world so that a first one of the game characters controlled by a first one of the game players becomes a protected game character protected from harm in the virtual game world, wherein, when the first condition is satisfied, an initial position of the protected first game character is substantially the same as a position of the first game character at a time the first condition is satisfied;
in response to satisfaction of a second condition during the playing of the multi-player video game, controlling, by the computer, the virtual game world so that the first game character becomes a protected game character protected from harm in the virtual game world, wherein, when the second condition is satisfied, an initial position of the protected first game character is displaced from a position of the first game character at a time the second condition is satisfied;
controlling movements of the protected first game character in the virtual game world; and
stopping the protecting of the protected first game character in response to any one of one or more protecting stopping conditions.
17. The video game system according to claim 16, wherein the first condition is satisfied without an end to the life of the first game character and the second condition is satisfied with an end to the life of the first game character.
18. The video game system according to claim 16, wherein:
a game screen is displayed so that the game screen is scrollable; and
in response to satisfaction of the second condition, an initial position of the protected first game character is displaced from the position where the first game character was at the time of satisfaction of the second condition in accordance with a direction in which the game screen is scrolled.
19. The video game system according to claim 16, wherein the first condition comprises a predetermined input by the first player.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded therein program instructions for a multi-player video game in which multiple players each supply inputs to a respective input device to control a corresponding game character in a virtual game world displayed on a display screen, the instructions comprising instructions for:
generating a virtual game world;
generating images of the virtual game world for display on a display screen;
receiving, during the playing of the video game, game character movement control signals, the game character movement control signals being based on inputs to the input devices;
controlling movements of each game character in the virtual game world in accordance with the respective first game character movement control signals;
in response to satisfaction of a first condition during the playing of the multi-player video game, controlling the virtual game world so that a first one of the game characters controlled by a first one of the game players becomes a protected game character protected from harm in the virtual game world, wherein, when the first condition is satisfied, an initial position of the protected first game character is substantially the same as a position of the first game character at a time the first condition is satisfied;
in response to satisfaction of a second condition during the playing of the multi-player video game, controlling, by the computer, the virtual game world so that the first game character becomes a protected game character protected from harm in the virtual game world, wherein, when the second condition is satisfied, an initial position of the protected first game character is displaced from a position of the first game character at a time the second condition is satisfied;
controlling movements of the protected first game character in the virtual game world; and
stopping the protecting of the protected first game character in response to any one of one or more protecting stopping conditions.
21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the first condition is satisfied without an end to the life of the first game character and the second condition is satisfied with an end to the life of the first game character.
22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein:
a game screen is displayed so that the game screen is scrollable; and
in response to satisfaction of the second condition, an initial position of the protected first game character is displaced from the position where the first game character was at the time of satisfaction of the second condition in accordance with a direction in which the game screen is scrolled.
23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the first condition comprises a predetermined input by the first player.
24. A video game apparatus for a multi-player video game program in which multiple players each supply inputs to a respective input device to control a corresponding game character in a virtual game world displayed on a display screen, the video game apparatus comprising:
a processing system including at least one processor, the processing system configured to perform operations comprising:
generating a virtual game world;
generating images of the virtual game world for display on a display screen;
receiving, during the playing of the video game, game character movement control signals, the game character movement control signals being based on inputs to the input devices;
controlling movements of each game character in the virtual game world in accordance with the respective game character movement control signals;
in response to satisfaction of a first condition during the playing of the multi-player video game, controlling, by the computer, the virtual game world so that a first one of the game characters controlled by a first one of the game players becomes a protected game character protected from harm in the virtual game world, wherein, when the first condition is satisfied, an initial position of the protected first game character is substantially the same as a position of the first game character at a time the first condition is satisfied;
in response to satisfaction of a second condition during the playing of the multi-player video game, controlling, by the computer, the virtual game world so that the first game character becomes a protected game character protected from harm in the virtual game world, wherein, when the second condition is satisfied, an initial position of the protected first game character is displaced from a position of the first game character at a time the second condition is satisfied;
controlling movements of the protected first game character in the virtual game world; and
stopping the protecting of the protected first game character in response to any one of one or more protecting stopping conditions.
25. The video game apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the first condition is satisfied without an end to the life of the first game character and the second condition is satisfied with an end to the life of the first game character.
26. The video game apparatus according to claim 25, wherein:
a game screen is displayed so that the game screen is scrollable; and
in response to satisfaction of the second condition, an initial position of the protected first game character is displaced from the position where the first game character was at the time of satisfaction of the second condition in accordance with a direction in which the game screen is scrolled.
27. The video game apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the first condition comprises a predetermined input by the first player.