Appeal No. 1997-3241 Application 08/442,726 specification, Appellants identify that each storage location (referred to as a slice) includes a ripple counter which contains a value indicative of the time the data in the slice was used relative to the data within the buffer’s other slices. Each of these counters is connected to a comparator which compares the value of the counter with a reference value. As described in greater detail on page 16 of Appellants' specification, the comparison is performed using a technique whereby the lower order bits of the counter are compared to the reference value at the same time the ripple counter is incrementing the higher order bits. This technique reduces the overall time required to update the counter and compare the count to the reference value. Additionally, use of the ripple counter, in lieu of a synchronous counter, reduces the circuit elements needed in the TLB. Independent claim 15 is illustrative of the invention. 15. A method, comprising: initiating an incrementing of a ripple counter of an LRU portion of a translation lookaside buffer by clocking a low order bit of said ripple counter; and comparing an output value of said low order bit of said ripple counter with a low order bit value of a ripple counter 2Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007