Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for mapping software prefetch instructions to hardware prefetch logic

US6915415B2 · kind B2 · utility

27Cited by
5References
25Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 7, 2002
Grant dateJul 5, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 12, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/3455
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for mapping some software prefetch instructions in a microprocessor system to a modified set of hardware prefetch instructions and executing the software prefetch by invoking the corresponding modified hardware prefetch instruction. For common software prefetch access patterns, by mapping the software prefetches to hardware, improved prefetching can be achieved without the need for additional hardware.

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