The Minor and o3 cpu models share the branch prediction
code. Minor relies on the BPredUnit::squash() function
to update the branch predictor tables on a branch mispre-
diction. This is fine because Minor executes in-order, so
the update is on the correct path. However, this causes the
branch predictor to be updated on out-of-order branch
mispredictions when using the o3 model, which should not
be the case.
This patch guards against speculative update of the branch
prediction tables. On a branch misprediction, BPredUnit::squash()
calls BpredUnit::update(..., squashed = true). The underlying
branch predictor tests against the value of squashed. If it is
true, it restores any speculatively updated internal state
it might have (e.g., global/local branch history), then returns.
If false, it updates its prediction tables. Previously, exist-
ing predictors did not test against the "squashed" parameter.
To accomodate for this change, the Minor model must now call
BPredUnit::squash() then BPredUnit::update(..., squashed = false)
on branch mispredictions. Before, calling BpredUnit::squash()
performed the prediction tables update.
The effect is a slight MPKI improvement when using the o3
model. A further patch should perform the same modifications
for the indirect target predictor and BTB (less critical).
Signed-off-by: Jason Lowe-Power <jason@lowepower.com>
This patch adds a configurable indirect branch predictor that can be indexed
by a combination of GHR and path history hashes. Implements the functionality
described in:
"Target prediction for indirect jumps" by Chang, Hao, and Patt
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=264209
This is a re-spin of fb9d142 after the revert (bd1c6789).
The following patches had unexpected interactions with the current
upstream code and have been reverted for now:
e07fd01651f3: power: Add support for power models
831c7f2f9e39: power: Low-power idle power state for idle CPUs
4f749e00b667: power: Add power states to ClockedObject
Signed-off-by: Andreas Sandberg <andreas.sandberg@arm.com>
--HG--
extra : amend_source : 0b6fb073c6bbc24be533ec431eb51fbf1b269508
This patch adds a configurable indirect branch predictor that can be indexed
by a combination of GHR and path history hashes. Implements the functionality
described in:
"Target prediction for indirect jumps" by Chang, Hao, and Patt
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=264209
A small bug in the bimodal predictor caused significant degradation in
performance on some benchmarks. This was caused by using the wrong
globalHistoryReg during the update phase. This patches fixes the bug
and brings the performance to normal level.
