Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to Microprocessors and Computer Architecture (2 page)

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Authors: jon stokes

Tags: #Computers, #Systems Architecture, #General, #Microprocessors

BOOK: Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to Microprocessors and Computer Architecture
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Chapter 9: 64-Bit Computing and
x
86-64 ..................................................................... 179

Chapter 10: The G5: IBM’s PowerPC 970
.................................................................... 193

Chapter 11: Understanding Caching and Performance
................................................... 215

Chapter 12: Intel’s Pentium M, Core Duo, and Core 2 Duo
............................................. 235

Bibliography and Suggested Reading ........................................................................... 271

Index ........................................................................................................................ 275

C O N T E N T S I N D E T A I L

PREFACE

xv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

xvii

INTRODUCTION

xix

1

BASIC COMPUTING CONCEPTS

1

The Calculator Model of Computing ........................................................................... 2

The File-Clerk Model of Computing ............................................................................. 3

The Stored-Program Computer ...................................................................... 4

Refining the File-Clerk Model ........................................................................ 6

The Register File ....................................................................................................... 7

RAM: When Registers Alone Won’t Cut It ................................................................... 8

The File-Clerk Model Revisited and Expanded ................................................. 9

An Example: Adding Two Numbers ............................................................. 10

A Closer Look at the Code Stream: The Program ........................................................ 11

General Instruction Types ........................................................................... 11

The DLW-1’s Basic Architecture and Arithmetic Instruction Format .................... 12

A Closer Look at Memory Accesses: Register vs. Immediate ......................................... 14

Immediate Values ...................................................................................... 14

Register-Relative Addressing ....................................................................... 16

2

THE MECHANICS OF PROGRAM EXECUTION

19

Opcodes and Machine Language ............................................................................ 19

Machine Language on the DLW-1 ............................................................... 20

Binary Encoding of Arithmetic Instructions .................................................... 21

Binary Encoding of Memory Access Instructions ............................................ 23

Translating an Example Program into Machine Language ............................... 25

The Programming Model and the ISA ....................................................................... 26

The Programming Model ............................................................................ 26

The Instruction Register and Program Counter ............................................... 26

The Instruction Fetch: Loading the Instruction Register ..................................... 28

Running a Simple Program: The Fetch-Execute Loop ....................................... 28

The Clock .............................................................................................................. 29

Branch Instructions .................................................................................................. 30

Unconditional Branch ................................................................................ 30

Conditional Branch ................................................................................... 30

Excursus: Booting Up .............................................................................................. 34

3

PIPELINED EXECUTION

35

The Lifecycle of an Instruction ................................................................................... 36

Basic Instruction Flow .............................................................................................. 38

Pipelining Explained ............................................................................................... 40

Applying the Analogy ............................................................................................. 43

A Non-Pipelined Processor ......................................................................... 43

A Pipelined Processor ................................................................................ 45

The Speedup from Pipelining ...................................................................... 48

Program Execution Time and Completion Rate .............................................. 51

The Relationship Between Completion Rate and Program Execution Time ......... 52

Instruction Throughput and Pipeline Stalls ..................................................... 53

Instruction Latency and Pipeline Stalls .......................................................... 57

Limits to Pipelining ..................................................................................... 58

4

SUPERSCALAR EXECUTION

61

Superscalar Computing and IPC .............................................................................. 64

Expanding Superscalar Processing with Execution Units .............................................. 65

Basic Number Formats and Computer Arithmetic ........................................... 66

Arithmetic Logic Units ................................................................................ 67

Memory-Access Units ................................................................................. 69

Microarchitecture and the ISA .................................................................................. 69

A Brief History of the ISA ........................................................................... 71

Moving Complexity from Hardware to Software ............................................ 73

Challenges to Pipelining and Superscalar Design ....................................................... 74

Data Hazards ........................................................................................... 74

Structural Hazards ..................................................................................... 76

The Register File ....................................................................................... 77

Control Hazards ....................................................................................... 78

5

THE INTEL PENTIUM AND PENTIUM PRO

79

The Original Pentium .............................................................................................. 80

Caches .................................................................................................... 81

The Pentium’s Pipeline ................................................................................ 82

The Branch Unit and Branch Prediction ........................................................ 85

The Pentium’s Back End .............................................................................. 87

x
86 O
verhead on the Pentium .................................................................... 91

Summary: The Pentium in Historical Context ................................................. 92

The Intel P6 Microarchitecture: The Pentium Pro .......................................................... 93

Decoupling the Front End from the Back End ................................................. 94

The P6 Pipeline ....................................................................................... 100

Branch Prediction on the P6 ...................................................................... 102

The P6 Back End ..................................................................................... 102

CISC, RISC, and Instruction Set Translation ................................................. 103

The P6 Microarchitecture’s Instruction Decoding Unit ................................... 106

The Cost of
x
86 Legacy Support on the P6 ................................................. 107

Summary: The P6 Microarchitecture in Historical Context ............................. 107

Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 110

x

Contents in Detail

6

POWERPC PROCESSORS: 600 SERIES,

700 SERIES, AND 7400

111

A Brief History of PowerPC .................................................................................... 112

The PowerPC 601 ................................................................................................ 112

The 601’s Pipeline and Front End .............................................................. 113

The 601’s Back End ................................................................................ 115

Latency and Throughput Revisited .............................................................. 117

Summary: The 601 in Historical Context .................................................... 118

The PowerPC 603 and 603e ................................................................................. 118

The 603e’s Back End ............................................................................... 119

The 603e’s Front End, Instruction Window, and Branch Prediction ................ 122

Summary: The 603 and 603e in Historical Context ..................................... 122

The PowerPC 604 ................................................................................................ 123

The 604’s Pipeline and Back End .............................................................. 123

The 604’s Front End and Instruction Window ............................................. 126

Summary: The 604 in Historical Context .................................................... 129

The PowerPC 604e .............................................................................................. 129

The PowerPC 750 (aka the G3) ............................................................................. 129

The 750’s Front End, Instruction Window, and Branch Instruction .................. 130

Summary: The PowerPC 750 in Historical Context ....................................... 132

The PowerPC 7400 (aka the G4) ........................................................................... 133

The G4’s Vector Unit ............................................................................... 135

Summary: The PowerPC G4 in Historical Context ........................................ 135

Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 135

7

INTEL’S PENTIUM 4 VS. MOTOROLA’S G4E:

APPROACHES AND DESIGN PHILOSOPHIES

137

The Pentium 4’s Speed Addiction ........................................................................... 138

The General Approaches and Design Philosophies of the Pentium 4 and G4e ............. 141

An Overview of the G4e’s Architecture and Pipeline ............................................... 144

Stages 1 and 2: Instruction Fetch ............................................................... 145

Stage 3: Decode/Dispatch ....................................................................... 145

Stage 4: Issue ......................................................................................... 146

Stage 5: Execute ..................................................................................... 146

Stages 6 and 7: Complete and Write-Back ................................................. 147

Branch Prediction on the G4e and Pentium 4 ........................................................... 147

An Overview of the Pentium 4’s Architecture ........................................................... 148

Expanding the Instruction Window ............................................................ 149

The Trace Cache ..................................................................................... 149

An Overview of the Pentium 4’s Pipeline ................................................................. 155

Stages 1 and 2: Trace Cache Next Instruction Pointer .................................. 155

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