Circuit and method for supporting misaligned accesses in the presence of speculative load instructions
US6829700B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 29, 2000 |
| Grant date | Dec 7, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 13, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/3861
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
There is disclosed a data processor comprising: 1) an instruction execution pipeline comprising N processing stages for executing a load instruction; 2) a status register for storing a modifiable configuration value, the modifiable configuration value having a first value indicating the data processor is capable of executing a misaligned access handling routine and a second value indicating the data processor is not capable of executing a misaligned access handling routine; 3) a misalignment detection circuit for determining if the load instruction performs a misaligned access to a target address of the load instruction and, in response to a determination that the load instruction does perform a misaligned access, generating a misalignment flag; and 4) exception control circuitry capable of detecting the misalignment flag and in response thereto determining if the modifiable configuration value is equal to the first value.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.