Heuristic prefetch mechanism and method for computer system

Boots – shoes – and leggings

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364948, 3642631, G06F 924

Patent

active

056665059

ABSTRACT:
A heuristic prefetch mechanism that fetches code without solicitation by the execution unit. The prefetch mechanism is configured to normally prefetch sequential code and, if a particular line of requested code is out of sequence with respect to an immediately preceding line of requested code, is configured to store in a memory tag unit the address of the previous instruction along with the subsequently requested out-of-sequence address. If the execution unit later issues another request for the previous instruction, the prefetch mechanism prefetches the corresponding out-of-sequence address stored in the memory tag unit. During each instruction fetch, a comparison is made to determine whether that particular instruction has been stored within the memory tag unit. If the memory tag unit has stored a non-sequential address corresponding to a requested instruction, the non-sequential address is loaded into a prefetch address latch. If no corresponding entry is in the memory tag unit, the address sequential to the requested address is stored within the prefetch address latch. A memory fetch unit subsequently prefetehes the line corresponding to the address within the prefetch address latch and stores the line within a buffer. During each instruction fetch by the CPU core, the memory fetch unit determines whether the requested instruction resides within the buffer and, if present, may provide the code directly.

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IBM, "Efficient Scheme To Reduce Over-Prefetching Of Instructions For Loading An Instruction Buffer", Aug. 1990, vol. 33 No. 3B pp. 483-485.
IBM, "Inexpensive History Table For Instruction Prefetch", Feb. 1989, vol. 31 No. 9, pp. 262-264.
J.E. Smith, W. C. Hsu, "Prefetching In Supercomputer Instruction Caches", Nov. 16, 1992, p. 590.

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