Store-Zeros Micro-Operation for All-Zero Register Values
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing microarchitecture designs face inefficiencies in storing common values, such as all-zeros values, into memory structures, leading to increased energy consumption and reduced processing speed.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a store-zeros micro-operation during instruction decoding, which recognizes all-zeros values in register sources and optimizes the store instruction by eliminating unnecessary micro-operations, thereby reducing the number of register sources tracked and accessed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If traditional store instructions are used to store all-zeros values from multiple registers, then the data is correctly stored in memory, but the energy consumption increases and processing speed decreases due to unnecessary micro-operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and identifies the specific case of storing all-zeros values from register sources, separating this common pattern from general store instructions. By detecting when all register sources contain identical zero values, the system applies a specialized store-zeros micro-operation that eliminates unnecessary memory access steps, thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining correct storage functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the store instruction by introducing a new micro-operation type (store-zeros) specifically for all-zeros values. This parameter change allows the system to optimize the storage process by using a simplified micro-operation sequence when the data being stored is known to be zero, rather than executing the full general-purpose store micro-operation sequence.
2Reliability
If traditional store instructions are used to store all-zeros values from multiple registers, then the data is correctly stored in memory, but the number of micro-operations increases leading to reduced processing speed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the common pattern of storing identical zero values from multiple register sources and creates a dedicated store-zeros micro-operation for this specific case. This extraction allows the system to maintain full reliability for general store operations while optimizing the common zero-value case with a simplified micro-operation sequence that reduces the total number of operations required.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by implementing optimization only for the specific case of all-zeros values rather than attempting to optimize all store operations. This selective approach ensures that reliability is maintained for the general case while achieving speed improvements for the common zero-value scenario, avoiding over-optimization that could compromise correctness.
3Reliability
If the processor tracks and accesses multiple register sources for store instructions, then all data is correctly retrieved and stored, but the complexity of register tracking increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the detection of identical zero values from the general register tracking process. By adding specific logic to detect when all register sources contain zero values, the system maintains complete data retrieval reliability for general cases while simplifying the tracking process for the common zero-value case through the specialized store-zeros micro-operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are techniques for optimizing store of common values to memory structures. In an aspect, a method for instruction decoding may include obtaining a store instruction that involves two or more registers. The method may include determining that at least one register of the two or more registers comprises an all-zeros value. The method may also include decoding the store instruction into a store-zeros micro-operation based at least in part on the determining. In some examples of the method, zeros-indicating metadata may be used to indicate that an all-zeros value has been stored in a memory structure.