The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 27, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 30, 1998
Chan Lee, Portland, OR (US);
Hitesh Ahuja, Portland, OR (US);
Robert F. Krick, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and system for reducing a latency of microprocessor instructions in transit along an instruction pipeline of a microprocessor by bypassing, at certain times, a fill buffer located between an instruction source and a trace cache unit on the instruction pipeline. The signal path through the fill buffer to the trace cache unit represent a first signal path. In the instruction pipeline, a second signal path is also provided, one which also leads instructions to the trace cache unit, not through the fill buffer, but through a latch provided on the second instruction path. If the latch is enabled, a set of instructions appearing at the input of the fill buffer is transmitted through the latch along the second instruction path and to the trace cache. As a result, the fill buffer is bypassed and a reduced latency for the bypassed instructions is achieved along the instruction pipeline.