Apparatus and method for entry allocation for a resource buffer
US5490280A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 28, 1994 |
| Grant date | Feb 6, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 28, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/3858
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for allocating a number of vacant entries of a buffer resource and generating a set of enable vectors based thereon for a set of issued instructions. A deallocation vector of a reservation station is searched in order to locate, within one clock cycle, the vacancies within the reservation station for storage of instruction information associated with several issued operations. Vacancies are indicated by bits of the deallocation vector. A general static and dynamic approach are disclosed for performing the vacant entry identification at high speed within a single clock cycle. Alternate embodiments are disclosed, based on the general approach, that divide the deallocation vector into separate portions (consecutive bits or interleaved) and process each portion based on the general approaches. Rotating priority reference points within the deallocation vector may be used to vary the starting point for vacancy location. Further, the vacancy search can be limited to finding only consecutive vacancies. A superscalar microprocessor using the above may, within one clock cycle, schedule a group of instructions from the instruction decoder to the reservation station for …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.