One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that logically
partitions different classes of translation lookaside buffer (TLB)
entries within a single caching structure. Upon receiving a request to
lookup an address translation, the system applies a hash function to
parameters associated with the request to determine a corresponding
location in the single caching structure where a TLB entry for the
request can reside. If the corresponding location contains a TLB entry
for the request, the system returns data from the TLB entry to facilitate
the address translation. This hash function partitions the single caching
structure so that different classes of TLB entries are mapped to separate
partitions of the single caching structure. In this way, the single
caching structure can accommodate different classes of TLB entries at the
same time.