Patent · US Active

Accessing a multibank register file using a thread identifier

US8458446B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
4References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 30, 2009
Grant dateJun 4, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 25, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C8/16
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A processor includes an instruction fetch unit configured to issue instructions for execution, where the instructions are selected from a number of threads, where each given instruction has a corresponding thread identifier, and where at least some of the instructions specify operand(s) via register identifiers. A register file stores operands usable by the instructions, and may include several banks, each corresponding to a register identifiers and including several entries corresponding to the several threads, wherein the entries are configured to store data values. In response to receiving a request to read a particular register identifier for a given thread identifier, the register file may be configured to decode the given thread identifier to retrieve entries from the banks that correspond to the given thread identifier. The register file may further select, from among the retrieved entries, a data value corresponding to the particular register identifier to be output.

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