Scratchpad memory

Scratchpad memory (SPM), also known as scratchpad, scatchpad RAM or local store in computer terminology, is a high-speed internal memory used for temporary storage of calculations, data, and other work in progress. In reference to a microprocessor ("CPU"), scratchpad refers to a special high-speed memory circuit used to hold small items of data for rapid retrieval. Bold text
It can be considered similar to the L1 cache in that it is the next closest memory to the ALU after the internal registers, with explicit instructions to move data to and from main memory, often using DMA-based data transfer. In contrast with a system that uses caches, a system with scratchpads is a system with Non-Uniform Memory Access latencies, because the memory access latencies to the different scratchpads and the main memory vary. Another difference with a system that employs caches is that a scratchpad commonly does not contain a copy of data that is also stored in the main memory.
Scratchpads are employed for simplification of caching logic, and to guarantee a unit can work without main memory contention in a system employing multiple processors, especially in multiprocessor system-on-chip for embedded systems. They are mostly suited for storing temporary results (as it would be found in the CPU stack) that typically wouldn't need to always be committing to the main memory; however when fed by DMA, they can also be used in place of a cache for mirroring the state of slower main memory. The same issues of locality of reference apply in relation to efficiency of use; although some systems allow strided DMA to access rectangular data sets. Another difference is that scratchpads are explicitly manipulated by applications.
Scratchpads are not used in mainstream desktop processors where generality is required for legacy software to run from generation to generation, in which the available on-chip memory size may change. They are better implemented in embedded systems, special-purpose processors and game consoles, where chips are often manufactured as MPSoC, and where software is often tuned to one hardware configuration.

Examples of use

The Cyrix 6x86, the only x86-compatible desktop processor to incorporate a dedicated scratchpad.
SuperH, used in Sega's consoles, could lock cachelines to an address outside of main memory for use as a scratchpad.
The Sony PS1's R3000 had a scratchpad instead of an L1 cache. It was possible to place the CPU stack here, an example of the temporary workspace usage.
Sony's PS2 Emotion Engine employed a 16KiB scratchpad, to and from which DMA transfers could be issued to its GS, and main memory.
The Cell's SPEs are restricted purely to working in their "local-store", relying on DMA for transfers from/to main memory and between local stores, much like a scratchpad. In this regard, additional benefit is derived from the lack of hardware to check and update coherence between multiple caches: the design takes advantage of the assumption that each processor's workspace is separate and private. It is expected this benefit will become more noticeable as the number of processors scales into the "many-core" future.
Many other processors allow L1 cache lines to be locked.
Most digital signal processors use a scratchpad. Many past 3D accelerators and game consoles (including the PS2) have used DSPs for vertex transformations. This differs with the stream based approach of modern GPUs which have more in common with a CPU cache's functions.
NVIDIA's 8800 GPU running under CUDA provides 16KiB of scratchpad per thread-bundle when being used for GPGPU tasks.
Ageia's PhysX chip utilizes scratchpad RAM in a manner similar to the Cell; its theory states that a cache hierarchy is of less use than software managed physics and collision calculations. These memories are also banked and a switch manages transfers between them.

Alternatives

Many architectures such as PowerPC attack to abstain the charge for cacheline locking or scratchpads through the use of accumulation ascendancy instructions. Marking an breadth of anamnesis with "Data Accumulation Block: Zero" (allocating a band but ambience its capacity to aught instead of loading from capital memory) and auctioning it afterwards use ('Data Accumulation Block: Invalidate', signaling that capital anamnesis needn't accept any adapted data) the accumulation is fabricated to behave as a scratchpad. Generality is maintained in that these are hints and the basal accouterments will action accurately behindhand of absolute accumulation size.

Shared L2 vs Cell local stores

Scratchpad memoryRegarding interprocessor communication in a multicore setup, there are similarities between the Cell's inter-localstore DMA and a Shared L2 cache setup as in the Intel Core 2 Duo or the Xbox 360's custom powerPC: the L2 cache allows processors to share results without those results having to be committed to main memory. This can be an advantage where the working set for an algorithm encompasses the entirety of the L2 cache. However, when a program is written to take advantage of inter-localstore DMA, the Cell has the benefit of each-other-Local-Store serving the purpose of BOTH the private workspace for a single processor AND the point of sharing between processors; i.e., the other Local Stores are on a similar footing viewed from one processor as the shared L2 cache in a conventional chip. The tradeoff is that of memory wasted in buffering and programming complexity for synchronization, though this would be similar to precached pages in a conventional chip. Domains where using this capability is effective include:
Pipeline processing (where one achieves the same effect as increasing the L1 cache's size by splitting one job into smaller chunks).
Extending the working set, e.g., a sweet spot for a merge sort where the data fits within 8x256KiB
Shared code uploading, like loading a piece of code to one SPU, then copy it from there to the others to avoid hitting the main memory again.
It would be possible for a conventional processor to gain similar advantages with cache-control instructions, for example, allowing the prefetching to the L1 bypassing the L2, or an eviction hint that signaled a transfer from L1 to L2 but not committing to main memory; however, at present no systems offer this capability in a usable form and such instructions in effect should mirror explicit transfer of data among cache areas used by each core.