The instruction fetch unit （IFU） usually dissipates a considerable portion of total chip power. In traditional IFU architectures, as soon as the fetch address is generated, it needs to be sent to the instruction cac...The instruction fetch unit （IFU） usually dissipates a considerable portion of total chip power. In traditional IFU architectures, as soon as the fetch address is generated, it needs to be sent to the instruction cache and TLB arrays for instruction fetch. Since limited work can be done by the power-saving logic after the fetch address generation and before the instruction fetch, previous power-saving approaches usually suffer from the unnecessary restrictions from traditional IFU architectures. In this paper, we present CASA, a new power-aware IFU architecture, which effectively reduces the unnecessary restrictions on the power-saving approaches and provides sufficient time and information for the power-saving logic of both instruction cache and TLB. By analyzing, recording, and utilizing the key information of the dynamic instruction flow early in the front-end pipeline, CASA brings the opportunity to maximize the power efficiency and minimize the performance overhead. Compared to the baseline configuration, the leakage and dynamic power of instruction cache is reduced by 89.7% and 64.1% respectively, and the dynamic power of instruction TLB is reduced by 90.2%. Meanwhile the performance degradation in the worst case is only 0.63%. Compared to previous state-of-the-art power-saving approaches, the CASA-based approach saves IFU power more effectively, incurs less performance overhead and achieves better scalability. It is promising that CASA can stimulate further work on architectural solutions to power-efficient IFU designs.展开更多
Mainstream processors implement the instruction scheduler using a monolithic CAM-based issue queue （IQ）, which consumes increasingly high energy as its size scales. In particular, its instruction wakeup logic accoun...Mainstream processors implement the instruction scheduler using a monolithic CAM-based issue queue （IQ）, which consumes increasingly high energy as its size scales. In particular, its instruction wakeup logic accounts for a major portion of the consumed energy. Our study shows that instructions with 2 non-ready operands （called 2OP instructions） are in small percentage, but tend to spend long latencies in the IQ. They can be effectively shelved in a small RAM-based waiting instruction buffer （WIB） and steered into the IQ at appropriate time. With this two-level shelving ability, half of the CAM tag comparators are eliminated in the IQ, which significantly reduces the energy of wakeup operation. In addition, we propose an adaptive banking scheme to downsize the IQ and reduce the bit-width of tag comparators. Experiments indicate that for an 8-wide issue superscalar or SMT proeessor,the energy consumption of the instruction scheduler can be reduced by 67%. Furthermore, the new design has potentially faster scheduler clock speed while maintaining close IPC to the monolithic scheduler design. Compared with the previous work on eliminating tags through prediction, our design is superior in terms of both energy reduction and SMT support.展开更多
基金Supported by the National High Technology Development 863 Program of China under Grant No.2004AAIZ1010.
文摘The instruction fetch unit （IFU） usually dissipates a considerable portion of total chip power. In traditional IFU architectures, as soon as the fetch address is generated, it needs to be sent to the instruction cache and TLB arrays for instruction fetch. Since limited work can be done by the power-saving logic after the fetch address generation and before the instruction fetch, previous power-saving approaches usually suffer from the unnecessary restrictions from traditional IFU architectures. In this paper, we present CASA, a new power-aware IFU architecture, which effectively reduces the unnecessary restrictions on the power-saving approaches and provides sufficient time and information for the power-saving logic of both instruction cache and TLB. By analyzing, recording, and utilizing the key information of the dynamic instruction flow early in the front-end pipeline, CASA brings the opportunity to maximize the power efficiency and minimize the performance overhead. Compared to the baseline configuration, the leakage and dynamic power of instruction cache is reduced by 89.7% and 64.1% respectively, and the dynamic power of instruction TLB is reduced by 90.2%. Meanwhile the performance degradation in the worst case is only 0.63%. Compared to previous state-of-the-art power-saving approaches, the CASA-based approach saves IFU power more effectively, incurs less performance overhead and achieves better scalability. It is promising that CASA can stimulate further work on architectural solutions to power-efficient IFU designs.
文摘Mainstream processors implement the instruction scheduler using a monolithic CAM-based issue queue （IQ）, which consumes increasingly high energy as its size scales. In particular, its instruction wakeup logic accounts for a major portion of the consumed energy. Our study shows that instructions with 2 non-ready operands （called 2OP instructions） are in small percentage, but tend to spend long latencies in the IQ. They can be effectively shelved in a small RAM-based waiting instruction buffer （WIB） and steered into the IQ at appropriate time. With this two-level shelving ability, half of the CAM tag comparators are eliminated in the IQ, which significantly reduces the energy of wakeup operation. In addition, we propose an adaptive banking scheme to downsize the IQ and reduce the bit-width of tag comparators. Experiments indicate that for an 8-wide issue superscalar or SMT proeessor,the energy consumption of the instruction scheduler can be reduced by 67%. Furthermore, the new design has potentially faster scheduler clock speed while maintaining close IPC to the monolithic scheduler design. Compared with the previous work on eliminating tags through prediction, our design is superior in terms of both energy reduction and SMT support.
