Patent · US Active

System and method for repairing a speculative global history record

US7904705B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
5References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 11, 2010
Grant dateMar 8, 2011
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 11, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F9/3863
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method are provided for updating a speculative global history prediction record in a microprocessor system using pipelined instruction processing. The method accepts microprocessor instructions with consecutive operations, including a conditional branch operation with an associated first branch address. A speculative global history record (SGHR) of conditional branch resolutions and predictions is accessed and hashed with the first branch address, creating a first hash result. The first hash result is used to index a branch history table (BHT) of previous first branch resolutions. As a result, a first branch prediction is made, and the SGHR is updated with the first branch prediction. A non-speculative global history record (NSGHR) of branch resolutions is updated with the resolution of the first branch operation, and if the first branch prediction is incorrect, the SGHR is corrected using the NSGHR.

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