Programming Idiom Accelerators

• US 20110173417A1
• Filed: 02/01/2008
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Arimilli, Ravi K., Sharma, Satya P., Swanberg, Randal C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,788,795 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 712/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3802 Instruction prefetching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3806 using address prediction, e.g. return stack, branch history buffer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3851 from multiple instruction streams, e.g. multistreaming

Abstract

A wake-and-go mechanism may be a programming idiom accelerator. As a processor fetches instructions, the programming idiom accelerator may look ahead to determine whether a programming idiom is coming up in the instruction stream. If the programming idiom accelerator recognizes a programming idiom, the programming idiom accelerator may perform an action to accelerate execution of the programming idiom. In the case of a wake-and-go programming idiom, the programming idiom accelerator may record an entry in a wake-and-go array, for example.

Claims

1. A method, in a data processing system, for performing programming idiom acceleration, the method comprising:

performing, by a programming idiom accelerator, a look-ahead operation to examine an instruction stream of a thread being executed by a processor, wherein the instruction stream comprises instructions to be executed by the processor;

detecting, by the programming idiom accelerator, a predetermined programming idiom comprising a sequence of instructions; and

performing, by the programming idiom accelerator, an action to accelerate execution of the sequence of instructions by the processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a look-ahead operation comprises:

examining the instruction stream of the thread to identify at least one predetermined sequence of instructions that performs a common function.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein examining the instruction stream of the thread to identify at least one predetermined sequence of instructions that performs a common function comprises examining instructions being pre-fetched for the thread.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data processing system is a multiple processor data processing system and wherein performing a look-ahead operation comprises:

examining instructions streams for a plurality of threads running on a plurality of processors to identify at least one predetermined programming idiom.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined programming idiom is a wake-and-go programming idiom.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the action comprises populating a wake-and-go storage array with a target address.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined programming idiom is a lock spinning idiom.

8. A data processing system, comprising:

at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor runs a thread executing an instruction stream of the thread; and

a programming idiom accelerator, wherein the programming idiom accelerator is configured to;

perform a look-ahead operation to examine the instruction stream of the thread being executed by the at least one processor, wherein the instruction stream comprises instructions to be executed by the processor;

detect a predetermined programming idiom comprising a sequence of instructions; and

perform an action to accelerate execution of the sequence of instructions by the at least one processor.

9. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein performing a look-ahead operation comprises:

examining the instruction stream of the thread to identify at least one predetermined sequence of instructions that performs a common function.

10. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein examining the instruction stream of the thread to identify at least one predetermined sequence of instructions that performs a common function comprises examining instructions being pre-fetched for the thread.

11. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the data processing system is a multiple processor data processing system and wherein performing a look-ahead operation comprises:

examining instructions streams for a plurality of threads running on a plurality of processors to identify at least one predetermined programming idiom.

12. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the predetermined programming idiom is a wake-and-go programming idiom.

13. The data processing system of claim 12, wherein the action comprises populating a wake-and-go storage array with a target address.

14. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein the predetermined programming idiom is a lock spinning idiom.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to:

perform a look-ahead operation to examine an instruction stream of a thread being executed by a processor, wherein the instruction stream comprises instructions to be executed by the processor;

detect a predetermined programming idiom comprising a sequence of instructions; and

perform an action to accelerate execution of the sequence of instructions by the processor.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein performing a look-ahead operation comprises:

examining the instruction stream of the thread to identify at least one predetermined sequence of instructions that performs a common function.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein examining the instruction stream of the thread to identify at least one predetermined sequence of instructions that performs a common function comprises examining instructions being pre-fetched for the thread.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the data processing system is a multiple processor data processing system and wherein performing a look-ahead operation comprises:

examining instructions streams for a plurality of threads running on a plurality of processors to identify at least one predetermined programming idiom.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the predetermined programming idiom is a wake-and-go programming idiom.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the action comprises populating a wake-and-go storage array with a target address.