System, apparatus and method for performing look-ahead lookup on predictive information in a cache memory
US7260686B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 17, 2004 |
| Grant date | Aug 21, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 21, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F12/0862
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system, apparatus, and method are disclosed for storing predictions as well as examining and using one or more caches for anticipating accesses to a memory. In one embodiment, an exemplary apparatus is a prefetcher for managing predictive accesses with a memory. The prefetcher can include a speculator to generate a range of predictions, and multiple caches. For example, the prefetcher can include a first cache and a second cache to store predictions. An entry of the first cache is addressable by a first representation of an address from the range of predictions, whereas an entry of the second cache is addressable by a second representation of the address. The first and the second representations are compared in parallel against the stored predictions of either the first cache and the second cache, or both.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.