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US 7,013,366 B2Granted
Parallel search technique for store operations
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsRajesh B Patel, James David Dundas, Mukesh R. Patel
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for satisfying load operations by accessing data from a store buffer is described herein. The present invention further relates to satisfying load operations faster than prior art techniques in most cases. Finally, the present invention provides an improved technique for satisfying load operations that does not significantly impact processor performance.
Claims30
A method comprising:
- searching a plurality of store buffer entry groups, each comprising a plurality of store buffer entries, in parallel for a most recent store operation upon which a load operation depends;
- selecting at least one of said plurality of store buffer entry groups comprising said most recent store operation upon which said load depends.
An apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of search units to search a plurality of store buffer entry groups, each comprising a plurality of store buffer entries, in parallel;
- a selection unit to select from results of said plurality of search units a search result corresponding to a most recent store operation upon which a load operation depends.
A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which if executed by a machine, cause said machine to perform a method comprising:
- performing a first search of a plurality of store buffer entry groups, each comprising a plurality of store buffer entries, in parallel;
- performing a second search of said plurality of store buffer entry groups in parallel with said first search;
- selecting one of said plurality of store buffer entry groups comprising a store buffer entry corresponding to a youngest store operation upon which a load depends;
- identifying requested data to said load operation with data corresponding to said youngest store operation.
1 more element
A system comprising:
- a system memory;
- a processor, said processor comprising a search unit to identify requested data to a load operation without accessing said system memory, said search unit comprising a plurality of search units to search a plurality of store buffer entry groups, each comprising a plurality of store buffer entries, in parallel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.