A Comparison of Data Prefetching on an Access Decoupled and Superscalar Machine

In this paper we investigate the behavior of data prefetching on an access decoupled machine and a superscalar machine. We assess if there are bene ts to using the decoupling paradigm given that an out-oforder (o-o-o) superscalar architecture could in principle prefetch to the same degree as an access decoupled machine. We have found that for large issue width the access decoupled machine can hide memory latency more e ectively than a single instruction window o-o-o superscalar architecture. Our ndings also demonstrate that an access decoupled machine o ers the bene t of reducing the complexity of window issue logic.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1997
• Where: MICRO
• Authors: G. P. Jones, Nigel P. Topham
• Keywords: Access Decoupled Machine, Hardware, MICRO 1997, Superscalar Architecture, Superscalar Machine