Intel corporation (20240111679). HARDWARE PROCESSOR HAVING MULTIPLE MEMORY PREFETCHERS AND MULTIPLE PREFETCH FILTERS simplified abstract

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HARDWARE PROCESSOR HAVING MULTIPLE MEMORY PREFETCHERS AND MULTIPLE PREFETCH FILTERS

Organization Name

intel corporation

Inventor(s)

Seth Pugsley of Hillsboro OR (US)

Mark Dechene of Hillsboro OR (US)

Ryan Carlson of Hillsboro OR (US)

Manjunath Shevgoor of Beaverton OR (US)

HARDWARE PROCESSOR HAVING MULTIPLE MEMORY PREFETCHERS AND MULTIPLE PREFETCH FILTERS - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 20240111679 titled 'HARDWARE PROCESSOR HAVING MULTIPLE MEMORY PREFETCHERS AND MULTIPLE PREFETCH FILTERS

Simplified Explanation

The abstract describes techniques for prefetching by a hardware processor, including execution circuitry, cache memories, and prefetcher circuitry. The prefetcher circuitry prefetches data from system memory to cache memories, with first and second-level prefetchers and prefetch filters.

  • Hardware processor prefetching techniques:
    • Execution circuitry executes instructions to access data at a memory address.
    • Cache memories include first and second cache levels.
    • Prefetcher circuitry prefetches data from system memory to cache memories.
    • First-level prefetcher prefetches data to the first cache memory.
    • Second-level prefetcher prefetches data to the second cache memory.
    • Prefetch filters filter exclusively for the first-level prefetcher and maintain a history of demand and prefetch accesses to pages in system memory to provide training information to the second-level prefetcher.

Potential Applications

The technology described in the patent application could be applied in: - High-performance computing systems - Data centers - Embedded systems

Problems Solved

The technology helps in: - Improving data access speed - Reducing latency in accessing data - Enhancing overall system performance

Benefits

The benefits of this technology include: - Faster data retrieval - Efficient utilization of cache memories - Enhanced system responsiveness

Potential Commercial Applications

The technology could find commercial applications in: - Server systems - Networking equipment - Gaming consoles

Possible Prior Art

One possible prior art related to this technology is the use of prefetching techniques in microprocessors to improve memory access speed.

Unanswered Questions

How does the prefetcher circuitry determine which data to prefetch to the cache memories?

The abstract does not provide details on the specific algorithms or mechanisms used by the prefetcher circuitry to decide which data to prefetch.

What impact does prefetching have on power consumption in the hardware processor?

The abstract does not mention any information regarding the power consumption implications of implementing prefetching techniques in the hardware processor.


Original Abstract Submitted

techniques for prefetching by a hardware processor are described. in certain examples, a hardware processor includes execution circuitry, cache memories, and prefetcher circuitry. the execution circuitry is to execute instructions to access data at a memory address. the cache memories include a first cache memory at a first cache level and a second cache memory at a second cache level. the prefetcher circuitry is to prefetch the data from a system memory to at least one of the plurality of cache memories, and it includes a first-level prefetcher to prefetch the data to the first cache memory, a second-level prefetcher to prefetch the data to the second cache memory, and a plurality of prefetch filters. one of the prefetch filters is to filter exclusively for the first-level prefetcher. another of the prefetch filters is to maintain a history of demand and prefetch accesses to pages in the system memory and to use the history to provide training information to the second-level prefetcher.