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1999 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD'99)
On the Use of Pseudorandom Sequences for High Speed Resource Allocators in Superscalar Processors
Austin, Texas
October 10-October 13
ISBN: 0-7695-0406-X
Srivatsan Srinivasan, University of Texas at Austin
Lizy Kurian John, University of Texas at Austin
With the increasing effort towards exploiting the maximum level of instruction level parallelism, modern microprocessors are designed to simultaneously issue and execute several instructions in the same clock cycle. A number of resource identifiers and tags are used in these superscalar processors to appropriately manage various resources in the processor, correctly identify and enforce data dependencies and to keep track of the instructions that are issued and completed. Structures whose delay is a function of issue window size and/or issue width are likely to become cycle time limiter and a hardware resource allocator is a potential candidate for investigation. The most straightforward technique to allocate and keep track of hardware resources in a processor is to use straight binary numbers as resource identifiers. In this paper, we investigate some alternate sequences especially, a pseudorandom sequence. The pseudorandom sequence is a `maximal length sequence' that has some key properties which enable fast sequence generation using a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR). We analyze the area and timing issues of various resource allocators using models constructed in Verilog hardware description language. Based on the timing optimizations in Synopsys targeting LSI Logic's 3.3v G10TM-p Cell-Based 0.29um ASIC library, we conclude that the pseudorandom sequencer can enhance the clock speed by 15 - 20% when compared to the traditional straight binary sequencers at the expense of 1.1 to 2.2 times more area. Considering the fact that the resource identifier allocator is required for reorder buffer entry allocation, reorder buffer tag allocation, and any other internal resource allocation, and that all these units act in tandem, in reality better clock rate, and thus higher overall system performance, can be achieved by adopting the techniques presented in this paper.
Index Terms:
hardware resource allocation, superscalar processor, reorder buffer, pseudorandom sequences
Citation:
Srivatsan Srinivasan, Lizy Kurian John, "On the Use of Pseudorandom Sequences for High Speed Resource Allocators in Superscalar Processors," iccd, pp.124, 1999 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD'99), 1999
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