Information processing apparatus and branch prediction method

A branch prediction method, comprising:

• storing first correspondence information that is correspondence information between an instruction address and a branch destination address of a most recent branch instruction, in a first branch history recording unit, a computation of the most recent branch instruction having been completed and a branch for the most recent branch prediction having been taken;
• storing a second correspondence information that is correspondence information between an instruction address and a branch destination address of each of a plurality of past branch instructions, which includes the most recent branch instruction, in a second branch history recording unit, computations of the plurality of past branch instructions having been completed and branches for the plurality of past branch instructions having been taken;
• making a determination of whether an instruction sequence in execution of the computation enters a loop, by a branch prediction control unit which makes a branch prediction, with use of an instruction address of an instruction fetched from a memory, based on a result of a search for one of the first correspondence information in the first branch history recording unit and the second correspondence information in the second branch history recording unit;
• and
• stopping supply of a clock to the second branch history recording unit and making the branch prediction by the branch prediction control unit, based on the result of the search for the first correspondence information in the first branch history recording unit when an instruction sequence in execution of the computation enters a loop.