In a computer system with caching, memory transactions can retrieve and
store groups of lines. Coherency states are maintained for groups of
lines, and for individual lines. A single coherency transaction, and a
single address transaction, can then result in the transfer of multiple
lines of data, reducing overall latency. Even though lines may be
transferred as a group, the lines can subsequently be treated separately.
This avoids many of the problems caused by long lines, such as increased
cache-to-cache copy activity.