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 function was used by the now-defunct InOrderCPU model. Since this
model is no longer in gem5, this function was not called from anywhere in
the code.
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
This patch adds explicit overrides as this is now required when using
"-Wall" with clang >= 3.5, the latter now part of the most recent
XCode. The patch consequently removes "virtual" for those methods
where "override" is added. The latter should be enough of an
indication.
As part of this patch, a few minor issues that clang >= 3.5 complains
about are also resolved (unused methods and variables).
This patch moves away from using M5_ATTR_OVERRIDE and the m5::hashmap
(and similar) abstractions, as these are no longer needed with gcc 4.7
and clang 3.1 as minimum compiler versions.
This changeset adds probe points that can be used to implement PMU
counters for branch predictor stats. The following probes are
supported:
* BPRedUnit::ppBranches / Branches
* BPRedUnit::ppMisses / Misses
This patch optimises the passing of StaticInstPtr by avoiding copying
the reference-counting pointer. This avoids first incrementing and
then decrementing the reference-counting pointer.
When a branch mispredicted gem5 would squash all history after and including
the mispredicted branch. However, the mispredicted branch is still speculative
and its history is required to rollback state if another, older, branch
mispredicts. This leads to things like RAS corruption.
This patch does some minor house keeping of the branch predictor by
adopting STL containers, and shifting some iterator to use range-based
for loops.
The predictor history is also changed from a list to a deque as we
never to insertion/deletion other than at the front and back.
This patch moves the branch predictor files in the o3 and inorder directories
to src/cpu/pred. This allows sharing the branch predictor across different
cpu models.
This patch was originally posted by Timothy Jones in July 2010
but never made it to the repository.
--HG--
rename : src/cpu/o3/bpred_unit.cc => src/cpu/pred/bpred_unit.cc
rename : src/cpu/o3/bpred_unit.hh => src/cpu/pred/bpred_unit.hh
rename : src/cpu/o3/bpred_unit_impl.hh => src/cpu/pred/bpred_unit_impl.hh
rename : src/cpu/o3/sat_counter.hh => src/cpu/pred/sat_counter.hh
