Apparatus for sampling path history in a processor pipeline
US6148396A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 26, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 14, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 26, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/3466
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus is provided for collecting state information associated with an execution path of recently processed instructions in a processor pipeline of a computer system. The apparatus identifies a class of instructions to be sampled. Path-identifying state information of a currently processed instruction is sampled when the currently processed instruction belongs to the identified class of instructions. A shift register stores a predetermined number of entries storing selected state information, the shift register is simultaneously sampled along with additional state information about the instruction being executed at the time of sampling.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.