Processor Core Microarchitectural State Capture and Restore

The patent changes the microarchitectural parameters by introducing checkpointing and restoration mechanisms that capture and restore processor state (including branch prediction state, branch target buffer, and micro-operation cache) at specific points during execution. This allows the processor to adapt to modern datacenter workloads with frequent context switches by preserving useful state information rather than completely reinitializing on each context switch, thereby resolving the contradiction between traditional performance optimization and adaptability to modern workloads

The patent applies preliminary action by capturing the microarchitectural state at checkpoint locations during task execution and storing it for later restoration. When a context switch occurs or a task is suspended, the saved state can be quickly restored without performing complete reinitialization of the microarchitecture (including branch predictors, branch target buffers, and micro-operation caches). This preliminary capture of state information eliminates the need for repeated setup costs on subsequent resumption, significantly reducing initialization overhead while maintaining short task duration responsiveness

The patent uses copying by creating a copy of the microarchitectural state (including branch prediction state, branch target buffer contents, and micro-operation cache) at checkpoint locations. Instead of maintaining a single active state that must be completely reinitialized on context switch, the system creates and stores a copy of the state information. This copied state can then be rapidly restored to a new context, enabling frequent context switching for multi-tenant environments while reducing the instruction supply bottleneck and address translation overhead that would result from complete reinitialization of the processor architecture