Swapping branch direction history(ies) in response to a branch prediction table swap instruction(s), and related systems and methods

Abstract

Swapping branch direction history(ies) in response to a branch prediction table swap instruction(s), and related systems and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, a branch history management circuit is configured to process a branch prediction table swap instruction. In response to the branch prediction table swap instruction, the branch history management circuit is configured to swap a prior branch direction history set assigned to a current software code region from cache memory, into a branch prediction table (BPT) for use in branch prediction. The current branch direction history set is swapped out of the BPT and stored in cache memory to avoid being overwritten. In this manner, branch direction history sets assigned to particular software code regions are used for branch prediction when processing the particular software code regions. Therefore, branch prediction accuracy and instruction processing throughput of an instruction processing system are increased.