Access speculation predictor implemented via idle command processing resources

A computer program product comprising a computer recordable medium having a computer readable program recorded thereon, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to:

• extract a first address from a data request;
• compare the first address to memory regions associated with second addresses stored in address registers of a plurality of finite state machines (FSMs) of a memory controller;
• select a FSM whose memory region includes the first address;
• obtain history information for the memory region from the selected FSM;
• and
• control whether to speculatively retrieve the data for the data request from a main memory based on the obtained history information.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• extract a first address from a data request;
• compare the first address to memory regions associated with second addresses stored in address registers of a plurality of finite state machines (FSMs) of a memory controller;
• select a FSM whose memory region includes the first address;
• obtain history information for the memory region from the selected FSM;
• and
• control whether to speculatively retrieve the data for the data request from a main memory based on the obtained history information.