Intel Corporation

Mirem Hyuseinova

Demos Pavlou

Fernando Latorre

Pedro Lopez

Grigorios Magklis

Marc Lupon

Pedro Marcuello

Polychronis Xekalakis

Josep M Codina

Raul Martinez

Enric Gibert Codina

Daniel Ortega

Kyriakos A Stavrou

Georgios Tournavitis

Crispin Gomez Requena

Christos E Kotselidis

Antonio Gonzalez

Carlos Madriles

Alejandro Martinez Vicente

John H Kelm

Steffen Kosinski

Varun Mohandru

Alejandro Vicente Martinez

Carlos Madriles Gimeno

Ralf Goettsche

Antonio Gonzelez

Marti Torrents Lapuerta

A computer-readable storage medium, method and system for optimization-level aware branch prediction is described. A gear level is assigned to a set of application instructions that have been optimized. The gear level is also stored in a register of a branch prediction unit of a processor. Branch prediction is then performed by the processor based upon the gear level.

Instruction and logic for optimization level aware branch prediction

A combination of hardware and software collect profile data for asynchronous events, at code region granularity. An exemplary embodiment is directed to collecting metrics for prefetching events, which are asynchronous in nature. Instructions that belong to a code region are identified using one of several alternative techniques, causing a profile bit to be set for the instruction, as a marker. Each line of a data block that is prefetched is similarly marked. Events corresponding to the profile data being collected and resulting from instructions within the code region are then identified. Each time that one of the different types of events is identified, a corresponding counter is incremented. Following execution of the instructions within the code region, the profile data accumulated in the counters are collected, and the counters are reset for use with a new code region.

Propagating a prefetching profile bit from a prefetch queue to a data cache to indicate that a line was prefetched in response to an instruction within a code region

A processor includes a resource scheduler, a dispatcher, and a memory execution unit. The memory execution unit includes logic to identify an executed, unretired store operation in a memory ordered buffer, determine that the store operation is speculative, determine whether an associated cache line in a data cache is non-speculative, and determine whether to block a write of the store operation results to the data cache based upon the determination that the store operation is speculative and a determination that the associated cache line is non-speculative.

Instruction and logic for reducing data cache evictions in an out-of-order processor

Disclosed is an apparatus and method to manage instruction cache prefetching from an instruction cache. A processor may comprise: a prefetch engine; a branch prediction engine to predict the outcome of a branch; and dynamic optimizer. The dynamic optimizer may be used to control: identifying common instruction cache misses and inserting a prefetch instruction from the prefetch engine to the instruction cache.

Managed instruction cache prefetching

A system and method for adaptive data prefetching in a processor enables adaptive modification of parameters associated with a prefetch operation. A stride pattern in successive addresses of a memory operation may be detected, including determining a stride length (L). Prefetching of memory operations may be based on a prefetch address determined from a base memory address, the stride length L, and a prefetch distance (D). A number of prefetch misses may be counted at a miss prefetch count (C). Based on the value of the miss prefetch count C, the prefetch distance D may be modified. As a result of adaptive modification of the prefetch distance D, an improved rate of cache hits may be realized.

Adaptive data prefetching

Growing community of inventors

Barcelona, Spain

Mirem Hyuseinova