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Trace Cache
In computer architecture, a trace cache or execution trace cache is a specialized instruction cache which stores the dynamic stream of instructions known as trace. It helps in increasing the instruction fetch bandwidth and decreasing power consumption (in the case of Intel Pentium 4) by storing traces of instructions that have already been fetched and decoded. A trace processor is an architecture designed around the trace cache and processes the instructions at trace level granularity. The formal mathematical theory of traces is described by trace monoids. Background The earliest academic publication of trace cache was "Trace Cache: a Low Latency Approach to High Bandwidth Instruction Fetching". This widely acknowledged paper was presented by Eric Rotenberg, Steve Bennett, and Jim Smith at 1996 International Symposium on Microarchitecture (MICRO) conference. An earlier publication is US patent 5381533, by Alex Peleg and Uri Weiser of Intel, "Dynamic flow instruction cache me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Cache Associativity
A CPU cache is a memory which holds the recently utilized data by the processor. A block of memory cannot necessarily be placed randomly in the cache and may be restricted to a single cache line or a set of cache lines by the cache placement policy. In other words, the cache placement policy determines where a particular memory block can be placed when it goes into the cache. There are three different policies available for placement of a memory block in the cache: direct-mapped, fully associative, and set-associative. Originally this space of cache organizations was described using the term "congruence mapping". Direct-mapped cache In a direct-mapped cache structure, the cache is organized into multiple sets with a single cache line per set. Based on the address of the memory block, it can only occupy a single cache line. The cache can be framed as a column matrix. To place a block in the cache * The set is determined by the index bits derived from the address of the mem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Instruction Cycle
The instruction cycle (also known as the fetch–decode–execute cycle, or simply the fetch-execute cycle) is the cycle that the central processing unit (CPU) follows from boot-up until the computer has shut down in order to process instructions. It is composed of three main stages: the fetch stage, the decode stage, and the execute stage. In simpler CPUs, the instruction cycle is executed sequentially, each instruction being processed before the next one is started. In most modern CPUs, the instruction cycles are instead executed concurrently, and often in parallel, through an instruction pipeline: the next instruction starts being processed before the previous instruction has finished, which is possible because the cycle is broken up into separate steps. Role of components The program counter (PC) is a special register that holds the memory address of the next instruction to be executed. During the fetch stage, the address stored in the PC is copied into the memory addre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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CPU Cache
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, which stores copies of the data from frequently used main memory locations. Most CPUs have a hierarchy of multiple cache levels (L1, L2, often L3, and rarely even L4), with different instruction-specific and data-specific caches at level 1. The cache memory is typically implemented with static random-access memory (SRAM), in modern CPUs by far the largest part of them by chip area, but SRAM is not always used for all levels (of I- or D-cache), or even any level, sometimes some latter or all levels are implemented with eDRAM. Other types of caches exist (that are not counted towards the "cache size" of the most important caches mentioned above), such as the translation lookaside buffer (TLB) which is part of the memory management unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Branch Trace
A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually refers to a terminus, while ''bough'' refers only to branches coming directly from the trunk. Due to a broad range of species of trees, branches and twigs can be found in many different shapes and sizes. While branches can be nearly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, the majority of trees have upwardly diagonal branches. A number of mathematical properties are associated with tree branchings; they are natural examples of fractal patterns in nature, and, as observed by Leonardo da Vinci, their cross-sectional areas closely follow the da Vinci branching rule. Terminology Because of the enormous quantity of branches in the world, there are numerous names in English alone for them. In general however, unspecific words for a branch (such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Micro-operation Cache
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, which stores copies of the data from frequently used main memory locations. Most CPUs have a hierarchy of multiple cache levels (L1, L2, often L3, and rarely even L4), with different instruction-specific and data-specific caches at level 1. The cache memory is typically implemented with static random-access memory (SRAM), in modern CPUs by far the largest part of them by chip area, but SRAM is not always used for all levels (of I- or D-cache), or even any level, sometimes some latter or all levels are implemented with eDRAM. Other types of caches exist (that are not counted towards the "cache size" of the most important caches mentioned above), such as the translation lookaside buffer (TLB) which is part of the memory management unit (MMU) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Sandy Bridge
Sandy Bridge is the codename for Intel's 32 nm microarchitecture used in the second generation of the Intel Core processors ( Core i7, i5, i3). The Sandy Bridge microarchitecture is the successor to Nehalem and Westmere microarchitecture. Intel demonstrated a Sandy Bridge processor in 2009, and released first products based on the architecture in January 2011 under the Core brand. Sandy Bridge is manufactured in the 32 nm process and has a soldered contact with the die and IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader), while Intel's subsequent generation Ivy Bridge uses a 22 nm die shrink and a TIM (Thermal Interface Material) between the die and the IHS. Technology Intel demonstrated a Sandy Bridge processor with A1 stepping at 2 GHz during the Intel Developer Forum in September 2009. Upgraded features from Nehalem include: CPU * Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 * 32 KB data + 32 KB instruction L1 cache and 256 KB L2 cache per core * Shared L3 cache which incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Micro-operation
In computer central processing units, micro-operations (also known as micro-ops or μops, historically also as micro-actions) are detailed low-level instructions used in some designs to implement complex machine instructions (sometimes termed macro-instructions in this context). Usually, micro-operations perform basic operations on data stored in one or more registers, including transferring data between registers or between registers and external buses of the central processing unit (CPU), and performing arithmetic or logical operations on registers. In a typical fetch-decode-execute cycle, each step of a macro-instruction is decomposed during its execution so the CPU determines and steps through a series of micro-operations. The execution of micro-operations is performed under control of the CPU's control unit, which decides on their execution while performing various optimizations such as reordering, fusion and caching. Optimizations Various forms of μops have long be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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NetBurst
The NetBurst microarchitecture, called P68 inside Intel, was the successor to the P6 microarchitecture in the x86 family of central processing units (CPUs) made by Intel. The first CPU to use this architecture was the Willamette-core Pentium 4, released on November 20, 2000 and the first of the Pentium 4 CPUs; all subsequent Pentium 4 and Pentium D variants have also been based on NetBurst. In mid-2004, Intel released the ''Foster'' core, which was also based on NetBurst, thus switching the Xeon CPUs to the new architecture as well. Pentium 4-based Celeron CPUs also use the NetBurst architecture. NetBurst was replaced with the Core microarchitecture based on P6, released in July 2006. Technology The NetBurst microarchitecture includes features such as Hyper-threading, Hyper Pipelined Technology, Rapid Execution Engine, Execution Trace Cache, and replay system which all were introduced for the first time in this particular microarchitecture, and some never appeared agai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Agner Fog
Agner Fog is a Danish evolutionary anthropologist and computer scientist. He is currently an Associate Professor of computer science at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), and has been present at DTU since 1995. He is best known for coining the term " Regality Theory" and for writing extensive optimization manuals for machines running the x86 architecture. Social sciences Agner Fog is the main investigator of Regality Theory, the proposition that the environment a group is in selects for certain psychological traits. As a result, a harsher environment selects for more regal (warlike) social structures while a safer environment selects for more kungic (peaceful) ones. Programming and mathematics Optimization Agner Fog is known as a "CPU analyst" to tech websites covering x86 CPUs. He maintains a five-volume manual for optimizing code for x86 CPUs, with details on the instruction timing and other features of individual microarchitectures. He also maintains a Vector ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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X86 Instruction Listings
The x86 instruction set refers to the set of instructions that x86-compatible microprocessors support. The instructions are usually part of an executable program, often stored as a computer file and executed on the processor. The x86 instruction set has been extended several times, introducing wider Register (computing), registers and datatypes as well as new functionality. x86 integer instructions Below is the full 8086/8088 instruction set of Intel (81 instructions total). Most if not all of these instructions are available in 32-bit mode; they just operate on 32-bit registers (eax, ebx, etc.) and values instead of their 16-bit (ax, bx, etc.) counterparts. The updated instruction set is also grouped according to architecture (i386, i486, i686) and more generally is referred to as (32-bit) x86 and (64-bit) x86-64 (also known as AMD64). Original 8086/8088 instructions Added in specific Intel processors Added with Intel 80186, 80186/Intel 80188, 80188 Added with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Micro-operations
In computer central processing units, micro-operations (also known as micro-ops or μops, historically also as micro-actions) are detailed low-level instructions used in some designs to implement complex machine instructions (sometimes termed macro-instructions in this context). Usually, micro-operations perform basic operations on data stored in one or more registers, including transferring data between registers or between registers and external buses of the central processing unit (CPU), and performing arithmetic or logical operations on registers. In a typical fetch-decode-execute cycle, each step of a macro-instruction is decomposed during its execution so the CPU determines and steps through a series of micro-operations. The execution of micro-operations is performed under control of the CPU's control unit, which decides on their execution while performing various optimizations such as reordering, fusion and caching. Optimizations Various forms of μops have long be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |