Method and apparatus for performing prefetching at the function level
US6421826B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 5, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jul 16, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 5, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/383
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for compiling source code into executable code that performs prefetching for memory operations within regions of code that tend to generate cache misses. The system operates by compiling a source code module containing programming language instructions into an executable code module containing instructions suitable for execution by a processor. Next, the system runs the executable code module in a training mode on a representative workload and keeps statistics on cache miss rates for functions within the executable code module. These statistics are used to identify a set of “hot” functions that generate a large number of cache misses. Next, explicit prefetch instructions are scheduled in advance of memory operations within the set of hot functions. In one embodiment, explicit prefetch operations are scheduled into the executable code module by activating prefetch generation at a start of an identified function, and by deactivating prefetch generation at a return from the identified function. In embodiment, the system further schedules prefetch operations for the memory operations by identifying a subset of memory…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.