Processor Operation Fusing for Trace Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current processor architectures face inefficiencies when translating instructions into operations, particularly in optimizing micro-operations and managing status flags and branch instructions, which can lead to suboptimal execution logic and increased complexity.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves a method of fusing operations within a processor, where instructions compatible with a reference architecture are translated and optimized into operations compatible with a target architecture, using a hardware translating agent, trace-building unit, and fusing agent to generate fused operations that reduce complexity and enhance execution efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If instructions are translated into multiple separate operations, then execution flexibility is improved, but device complexity and operation count increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate micro-operations into a single fused operation that performs multiple functions simultaneously. For example, a fused operation can perform arithmetic computation, update status flags, and modify registers in one atomic step, thereby reducing overall operation count and complexity while maintaining execution flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The fused operation is designed to perform multiple functions that were previously handled by separate operations. A single fused operation can implement different computational tasks by varying its parameters, making the operation unit universal and reducing the need for specialized separate operations for each function.
2Measurement precision
If separate operations are used for status flag updates and arithmetic operations, then operational precision is improved, but execution time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges status flag update operations with arithmetic operations into a single fused operation. This allows both the arithmetic computation and the status flag updates to occur simultaneously in one execution cycle rather than sequentially, maintaining operational precision while significantly reducing execution time.
Solution Approach 2:
The fused operation maintains continuous execution by performing multiple useful actions (arithmetic computation and status flag updates) without interruption or sequential stepping. The operation completes all required functions in a single atomic step, eliminating the time loss that would occur with separate sequential operations.
3Reliability
If multiple operations are executed sequentially, then operational correctness is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sequential operations into a single fused operation that maintains operational correctness through atomic execution. The fused operation ensures that all required transformations and status updates occur in a single atomic step, preventing intermediate incorrect states while executing faster than sequential operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The fused operation maintains continuous and correct execution by performing all necessary operations in a single uninterrupted atomic step. This eliminates the sequential execution overhead and intermediate states that could introduce errors, while maintaining the correctness guarantees of sequential execution.
Data Source
AI summary
Reference architecture instructions are translated into target architecture operations. Sequences of operations, in a predicted execution order in some embodiments, form traces. In some embodiments, a trace is based on a plurality of basic blocks. In some embodiments, a trace is committed or aborted as a single entity. Sequences of operations are optimized by fusing collections of operations; fused operations specify a same observable function as respective collections, but advantageously enable more efficient processing. In some embodiments, a collection comprises multiple register operations. Fusing a register operation with a branch operation in a trace forms a fused reg-op/branch operation. In some embodiments, branch instructions translate into assert operations. Fusing an assert operation with another operation forms a fused assert operation. In some embodiments, fused operations only set architectural state, such as high-order portions of registers, that is subsequently read before being written.