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:
Nov. 23, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 01, 2001
Robert William Hay, Austin, TX (US);
Balaram Sinharoy, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A field is defined in branch instructions which is interpreted by software as “Hint” bits and these bits are used to signal the processor of special circumstances that may arise when doing speculative branch instruction execution to enable better branch address prediction accuracy and a reduction in link stack corruption which improves overall execution times. A programmer or compiler determines if a branch instruction usage fits in the context for a Hint action. If so, the compiler or programmer, using assembly/machine language, sets Hint bits in the branch instruction when it is compiled. If the branch is later speculatively executed, the processor decodes the Hint bits and executes and a hardware action corresponding the decode of the Hint bits. These Hints include four specific Hint actions, however, the field reserved for Hint bits is five bit wide reserving up to thirty-two specific Hint cases may be specified. These Hint cases (or Hint bits) may be interpreted differently for each type of branch instruction supported.