A program running on multiple processors will normally have copies of the same data in several caches. In a coherent multiprocessor, the caches provide both migration and replication of shared data items.

Coherent caches provide migration, since a data item can be moved to a local cache and used there in a transparent fashion. This migration reduces both the latency to access a shared data item that is allocated remotely and the bandwidth demand on the shared memory.

Coherent caches also provide replication for shared data that are being simultaneously read, since the caches make a copy of the data item in the local cache. Replication reduces both latency of access and contention for a read shared data item. Supporting this migration and replication is critical to performance in accessing shared data. Thus, rather than trying to solve the problem by avoiding it in software, multiprocessors adopt a hardware solution by introducing a protocol to maintain coherent caches.

The protocols to maintain coherence for multiple processors are called cache coherence protocols. Key to implementing a cache coherence protocol is tracking the state of any sharing of a data block.

Snooping based

Every cache that has a copy of the data from a block of physical memory could track the sharing status of the block. In an SMP, the caches are typically all accessible via bus, and all cache controllers monitor or snoop on the medium to determine whether or not they have a copy of a block that is requested on a bus or switch access. Snooping can also be used as the coherence protocol for a multichip multiprocessor. Generally used for small scale systems.

The bus provided a convenient broadcast medium to implement the snooping protocols.

Directory based

The sharing status of a particular block of physical memory is kept in one central location, called the directory. Directory based protocols scale better and are used in large scale systems