Apparatus for performing branch target address calculation based on branch type
US6609194B1 · kind B1 · utility
35Cited by
3References
12Claims
0Family size
Assignee
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Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 12, 1999 |
| Grant date | Aug 19, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 12, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/323
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A branch target address prediction mechanism is provided. A branch target buffer (BTB) is employed to predict target address only of indirect branch instructions. Return addresses are predicted from a call/return stack and PC-relative branch instructions are predicted by directly calculating the target address using a program counter-relative displacement specified in the instruction. Because the BTB only stores indirect branch instruction target addresses, the likelihood of aliasing collisions in the BTB is greatly reduced, thereby increasing the prediction accuracy of the BTB.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.