Store aware prefetching for a datastream
US8667225B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 11, 2009 |
| Grant date | Mar 4, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 12, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2212/6026
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for efficient data prefetching. A data stream stored in lower-level memory comprises a contiguous block of data used in a computer program. A prefetch unit in a processor detects a data stream by identifying a sequence of storage accesses referencing a contiguous blocks of data in a monotonically increasing or decreasing manner. After a predetermined training period for a given data stream, the prefetch unit prefetches a portion of the given data stream from memory without write permission, in response to an access that does not request write permission. Also, after the training period, the prefetch unit prefetches a portion of the given data stream from lower-level memory with write permission, in response to determining there has been a prior access to the given data stream that requests write permission subsequent to a number of cache misses reaching a predetermined threshold.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.