In a cache system a steering array indirect maps queries to the cache cells,
and
a cyclic replacement mechanism allocates the cache cells for replacement in the
cache. The cache system has a hash mechanism, a steering array and a cyclic replacement
counter. The hash mechanism computes a hash value from arguments in the query.
The cache has a plurality of cache cells, and each cell has an answer and a usage
bit indicating whether the cell is in use. The steering array stores a cache index
based on the hash value, and the cache index points to a cache cell that may contain
the answer to the query. The cyclic replacement counter addresses each cell in
the cache to determine if the cell is still in use or may store a new answer.
