Software and Hardware Coordinated Prefetch
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a processor configured to;
identify a code segment in a program;
analyze the code segment to determine a memory access pattern;
if the memory access pattern is regular,turn on hardware prefetching for the code segment by setting a control register before the code segment; and
turn off the hardware prefetching by resetting the control register after the code segment.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Included is an apparatus comprising a processor configured to identify a code segment in a program, analyze the code segment to determine a memory access pattern, if the memory access pattern is regular, turn on hardware prefetching for the code segment by setting a control register before the code segment, and turn off the hardware prefetching by resetting the control register after the code segment. Also included is a method comprising identifying a code segment in a program, analyzing the code segment to determine a memory access pattern, if the memory access pattern is regular, turning on hardware prefetching for the code segment by setting a control register before the code segment, and turning off the hardware prefetching by resetting the control register after the code segment.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
a processor configured to; identify a code segment in a program; analyze the code segment to determine a memory access pattern; if the memory access pattern is regular, turn on hardware prefetching for the code segment by setting a control register before the code segment; and turn off the hardware prefetching by resetting the control register after the code segment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method comprising:
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identifying a code segment in a program; analyzing the code segment to determine a memory access pattern; if the memory access pattern is regular, turning on hardware prefetching for the code segment by setting a control register before the code segment; and turning off the hardware prefetching by resetting the control register after the code segment. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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10. The method of claim, further comprising:
if the memory access pattern is regular, determining a prefetching stride for the hardware prefetching. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 15)
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16. An apparatus comprising:
an on-chip register configured to indicate a state of hardware prefetching, wherein the on-chip register is controlled by a compiler. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
Specification