Apparatus and method for accessing data in a cache in response to an unaligned load instruction
US10503506B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 19, 2015 |
| Grant date | Dec 10, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 30, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/30145
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A mechanism is provided for improving performance when executing unaligned load instructions which load an unaligned block of data from a data store. In a first unaligned load handling mode, a final load operation of a series of load operations performed for the instruction loads a full data word extending beyond the end of the unaligned block of data to be loaded by that instruction. If an initial portion of the unaligned block of data to be loaded by a subsequent unaligned load instruction corresponds to the excess part in the stream buffer for the earlier instruction, then an initial load operation for the subsequent instruction can be suppressed. A mechanism is also described for allowing series of dependent data access operations triggered by a given instruction to be halted partway through when a stall condition arises, and resumed partway through later, by defining overlapping sequences of transactions.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.