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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 is the gem5 simulator. The main website can be found at http://www.gem5.org A good starting point is http://www.gem5.org/Introduction, and for more information about building the simulator and getting started please see http://www.gem5.org/Documentation and http://www.gem5.org/Tutorials. To build gem5, you will need the following software: g++ or clang, Python (gem5 links in the Python interpreter), SCons, SWIG, zlib, m4, and lastly protobuf if you want trace capture and playback support. Please see http://www.gem5.org/Dependencies for more details concerning the minimum versions of the aforementioned tools. Once you have all dependencies resolved, type 'scons build/<ARCH>/gem5.opt' where ARCH is one of ALPHA, ARM, NULL, MIPS, POWER, SPARC, or X86. This will build an optimized version of the gem5 binary (gem5.opt) for the the specified architecture. See http://www.gem5.org/Build_System for more details and options. With the simulator built, have a look at http://www.gem5.org/Running_gem5 for more information on how to use gem5. The basic source release includes these subdirectories: - configs: example simulation configuration scripts - ext: less-common external packages needed to build gem5 - src: source code of the gem5 simulator - system: source for some optional system software for simulated systems - tests: regression tests - util: useful utility programs and files To run full-system simulations, you will need compiled system firmware (console and PALcode for Alpha), kernel binaries and one or more disk images. Please see the gem5 download page for these items at http://www.gem5.org/Download If you have questions, please send mail to gem5-users@gem5.org Enjoy using gem5 and please share your modifications and extensions.