Branch target address provision
US10613869B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 29, 2018 |
| Grant date | Apr 7, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 18, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2212/6028
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method of operating an apparatus are provided. The apparatus comprises execution circuitry to perform data processing operations specified by instructions and instruction retrieval circuitry to retrieve the instructions from memory, wherein the instructions comprise branch instructions. The instruction retrieval circuitry comprises branch target storage to store target instruction addresses for the branch instructions and branch target prefetch circuitry to prepopulate the branch target storage with predicted target instruction addresses for the branch instructions. An improved hit rate in the branch target storage may thereby be supported.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.