Patent · US Expired

Branch operation system where instructions are queued until preparations is ascertained to be completed and branch distance is considered as an execution condition

US6052776A · kind A · utility

17Cited by
7References
9Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 16, 1997
Grant dateApr 18, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 16, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/3842
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method of effecting a branch operation without the need of instruction fetching is carried out according to the taken/untaken branch with respect to a program containing plural branch instructions, and the method is performed by an apparatus information processing. By detecting a branch instruction stored in an instruction buffer, determining its branch distance and branch condition, and if the branch distance is less than a predetermined positive distance, by then providing that branch condition as an execution condition for the instruction located within said predetermined distance to store in an instruction register, a series of instructions succeeding that branch instruction can be processed into a conditional instruction in the apparatus. The instructions may be continuously executed without refetching instructions, in both cases that a branch condition is taken and untaken. Also, the penalty of miss-prediction of a branch will be minimized.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.