Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for improving dispersal performance in a processor through the use of no-op ports

US7149881B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
3References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 19, 2004
Grant dateDec 12, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 22, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/3853
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for improving dispersal performance of instruction threads is described. In one embodiment, the dispersal logic determines whether the instructions supplied to it include any NOP instructions. When a NOP instruction is detected, the dispersal logic places the NOP into a no-op port for execution. All other instructions are distributed to the proper execution pipes in a normal manner. Because the NOP instructions do not use the execution resources of other instructions, all instruction threads can be executed in one cycle.

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