Software Support for Speculative Loads
Report ID: TR-372-92Author: Li, Kai / Rogers, Anne
Date: 1992-05-00
Pages: 14
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Abstract:
This paper describes a very simple mechanism and related compiler support for software--controlled speculative loads. The compiler issues speculative load instructions based on anticipated data references and the ability of the memory system to hide memory latency in high--performance processors. The architectural support for such a mechanism is simple and minimal, yet handles faults gracefully. We have simulated the speculative load mechanism based on a MIPS processor and a detailed memory system. The results of scientific kernel loops indicate that the speculative load techniques are effective approaches to hiding memory latency.
- This technical report has been published as
- Software Support for Speculative Loads. Anne Rogers and Kai Li, ACM Proc. of the 5th Internat. Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems, pp. 38-50, 1992.