Array having an update circuit for updating a storage location with a

Abstract

A memory including first storage circuits for storing first values and second storages circuit for storing second values is provided. The first value may be retired branch prediction information, while the second value may be speculative branch prediction information. The speculative branch prediction information is updated when the corresponding instructions are fetched, and the retired branch prediction value is updated when the corresponding branch instruction is retired. The speculative branch prediction information is used to form branch predictions. Therefore, the speculatively fetched and executed branches influence subsequent branch predictions. Upon detection of a mispredicted branch or an instruction which causes an exception, the speculative branch prediction information is updated to the corresponding retired branch prediction information. An update circuit is coupled between the first and second storage circuits for transmitting the updated information upon assertion of a control signal. The control signal may be asserted to cause the update of each speculative branch prediction by the corresponding retired branch prediction. The updates occur substantially simultaneously, restoring any corruption to speculative branch predictions due to speculatively fetched branch instructions which were flushed from the instruction processing pipeline. Although discussed herein in terms of a branch prediction array, the memory may be adapted to many other applications.