Block-Based Processor Debug Mode via Static Execution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current processor architectures face challenges in achieving sustained performance improvements due to the complexity and energy inefficiency of superscalar out-of-order execution, which is resource-intensive and costly in terms of circuit resources and energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a block-based processor with an Explicit Data Graph Execution (EDGE) ISA that executes instructions in atomic blocks, reducing the need for register renaming, dataflow analysis, and misspeculation recovery, while supporting high instruction-level parallelism and out-of-order execution with near in-order power efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If superscalar out-of-order execution is implemented to improve processor performance, then instruction throughput is improved, but device complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The processor divides instructions into fixed-size atomic blocks that are executed as units. This segmentation simplifies the execution architecture by eliminating the need for complex register renaming and dataflow analysis across individual instructions, while maintaining parallelism through block-level operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The processor dynamically switches between two instruction issue modes: out-of-order execution mode for high performance and in-order execution mode for lower power consumption. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize for either throughput or energy efficiency based on workload requirements.
2Productivity
If superscalar out-of-order execution is implemented to improve processor performance, then instruction throughput is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The processor dynamically switches between out-of-order execution mode for high performance and in-order execution mode for lower power consumption. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize for either throughput or energy efficiency based on workload requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The processor changes the execution parameter from dynamic out-of-order issuance to static in-order issuance within atomic blocks, reducing the energy required for complex scheduling and control logic while maintaining acceptable performance through block-level parallelism.
3Device complexity
If atomic block execution is implemented to reduce hardware complexity, then device complexity is reduced, but debugging capability is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
A debug mode acts as an intermediary that translates the atomic block execution model into debugger-friendly operations. This mode enables single-stepping through blocks and inspecting intermediate states without requiring changes to the underlying block-based architecture, thus maintaining simplicity while improving debuggability.
4Productivity
If out-of-order execution is implemented to improve performance, then instruction throughput is improved, but loss of information increases due to misspeculation recovery
Solution Approach 1:
The processor divides instructions into fixed-size atomic blocks that are executed as units. This segmentation simplifies the execution architecture by eliminating the need for complex register renaming and dataflow analysis across individual instructions, while maintaining parallelism through block-level operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for supporting debugging of programs in block-based processor architectures. In one example of the disclosed technology, a processor includes a block-based processor core for executing an instruction block comprising an instruction header and a plurality of instructions. The block-based processor core includes execution control logic and core state access logic. The execution control logic can be configured to schedule respective instructions of the plurality of instructions for execution in a dynamic order during a default execution mode and to schedule the respective instructions for execution in a static order during a debug mode. The core state access logic can be configured to read intermediate states of the block-based processor core and to provide the intermediate states outside of the block-based processor core during the debug mode.