Patent · US Expired

Optimized storage system and method for a processor that executes instructions out of order

US6131156A · kind A · utility

2Cited by
5References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 3, 1998
Grant dateOct 10, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 3, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/4812
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An optimized storage system is implemented in a processor that executes instructions out of order. The system minimizes storage requirements for dependency operands in the processor by eliminating a need for separate storage mechanisms for holding different dependency operands that are produced from different instructions. The system comprises the following elements. An instruction reordering mechanism is configured to permit execution of the instructions in an out of order sequence. Rename registers (RRs) are associated with the reordering mechanism. Logic causes storage of trap information in the rename registers intermixed with instruction execution results. The trap information may be associated with arithmetic integer or floating point (fp) operations and can include the identity of the trapped instruction, the trapped operation, etc. Logic further causes storage of different sized dependency operands within the RRs. The dependency operands can include, for example, carry borrow (cb) operands and/or shift amount register (sar) operands. The dependency operands are produced by instructions and stored in the rename registers and are also retrieved and utilized by instructions. S…

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