Vector Register File Managing Rotating Buffer Areas
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Solution Overview
Problem
In data processing applications, particularly in streaming mode, managing memory latency and aligning data blocks for efficient processing is challenging due to high memory latency and misalignment of data in memory, which limits register usage and performance.
Innovation Solution
A processor core with N-bit system memory interface, register file, and vector registers, along with specific instructions like VLOAD and VALIGN, allows for efficient data alignment and management of rotating buffer areas to handle misaligned data blocks by reading and writing data in one cycle, using a series of load instructions and alignment instructions to process data blocks across multiple registers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If modular variable expansion technique is used to overcome memory latency, then the execution time is increased, but the number of available registers becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The register file is segmented into two distinct types: general purpose registers and vector registers. Vector registers are dedicated specifically for storing data blocks read from memory, while general purpose registers handle control and addressing operations. This segmentation allows the vector register file to be optimized for high-speed data storage without being constrained by the limited number of general purpose registers, thus resolving the contradiction between overcoming memory latency and maintaining sufficient register availability.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional load instructions are used to load data blocks, then data alignment is maintained, but misaligned data in memory cannot be processed efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces vector load instructions that change the parameter of data alignment flexibility. Instead of requiring strict alignment, the vector load instruction can load data blocks starting from any memory address, including misaligned addresses. The vector register system accommodates these misaligned loads by storing the complete data block regardless of its starting position, thereby maintaining both alignment capability and processing efficiency for misaligned data.
3Speed
If vector registers are used to store data blocks, then data processing speed is improved, but the complexity of managing rotating buffer areas increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vector register system implements self-service mechanisms for managing rotating buffer areas. The hardware automatically handles the rotation of buffer pointers and the allocation of vector registers for data blocks, eliminating the need for complex software management. The vector load and store instructions inherently manage the rotating buffer logic, allowing fast data processing while keeping the management complexity low through hardware-assisted automation.
Data Source
AI summary
A processor core including an N-bit system memory interface; a register file comprising a plurality of general purpose registers of capacity less than N bits; a set of N-bit vector registers ; in its instruction set, a register manipulation instruction executable with the following parameters: a) a value defining in the set of vector registers a buffer area formed by a plurality of consecutive vector registers, and b) a reference to a first general purpose register , the first general purpose register containing an index identifying a vector register within the buffer area; and an execution unit configured to, upon execution of a register manipulation instruction, read or write, in one cycle, N bits in a vector register identified from the value defining the buffer area and the index contained in the first general purpose register).