COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND DESIGN

5
Edition
th

The Hardware/Software Interface

Chapter 4
The Processor
 §4.1 Introduction
Introduction
 CPU performance factors
 Instruction count

Determined by ISA and compiler
 CPI and Cycle time

Determined by CPU hardware
 We will examine two MIPS implementations
 A simplified version
 A more realistic pipelined version
 Simple subset, shows most aspects
 Memory reference: lw, sw
 Arithmetic/logical: add, sub, and, or, slt
 Control transfer: beq, j

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 2

Instruction Execution
 PC  instruction memory, fetch instruction
 Register numbers  register file, read registers
 Depending on instruction class
 Use ALU to calculate

Arithmetic result

Memory address for load/store

Branch target address
 Access data memory for load/store
 PC  target address or PC + 4

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 3

CPU Overview

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 4

Multiplexers
 Can’t just join
wires together
 Use multiplexers

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 5

Control

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 6

 §4.2 Logic Design Conventions
Logic Design Basics
 Information encoded in binary
 Low voltage = 0, High voltage = 1
 One wire per bit
 Multi-bit data encoded on multi-wire buses
 Combinational element
 Operate on data
 Output is a function of input
 State (sequential) elements
 Store information

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 7

Combinational Elements
 AND-gate  Adder A
Y
+
 Y=A&B  Y=A+B B

A
Y
B
 Arithmetic/Logic Unit
 Multiplexer  Y = F(A, B)
 Y = S ? I1 : I0
A
I0 M
u Y ALU Y
I1 x
B
S F

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 8

Sequential Elements
 Register: stores data in a circuit
 Uses a clock signal to determine when to
update the stored value
 Edge-triggered: update when Clk changes
from 0 to 1

Clk
D Q
D

Clk
Q

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 9

 Sequential Elements
 Register with write control
 Only updates on clock edge when write
control input is 1
 Used when stored value is required later

Clk

D Q Write

Write D
Clk
Q

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 10

Clocking Methodology
 Combinational logic transforms data
during clock cycles
 Between clock edges
 Input from state elements, output to state
element
 Longest delay determines clock period

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 11

 §4.3 Building a Datapath
Building a Datapath
 Datapath
 Elements that process data and addresses
in the CPU
 Registers, ALUs, mux’s, memories, …
 We will build a MIPS datapath
incrementally
 Refining the overview design

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 12

Instruction Fetch

Increment by
4 for next
32-bit instruction
register

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 13

R-Format Instructions
 Read two register operands
 Perform arithmetic/logical operation
 Write register result

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 14

Load/Store Instructions
 Read register operands
 Calculate address using 16-bit offset
 Use ALU, but sign-extend offset
 Load: Read memory and update register
 Store: Write register value to memory

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 15

Branch Instructions
 Read register operands
 Compare operands
 Use ALU, subtract and check Zero output
 Calculate target address
 Sign-extend displacement
 Shift left 2 places (word displacement)
 Add to PC + 4
 Already calculated by instruction fetch

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 16

Branch Instructions
Just
re-routes
wires

Sign-bit wire
replicated

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 17

Composing the Elements
 First-cut data path does an instruction in
one clock cycle
 Each datapath element can only do one
function at a time
 Hence, we need separate instruction and data
memories
 Use multiplexers where alternate data
sources are used for different instructions

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 18

R-Type/Load/Store Datapath

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 19

Full Datapath

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 20

 §4.4 A Simple Implementation Scheme
ALU Control
 ALU used for
 Load/Store: F = add
 Branch: F = subtract
 R-type: F depends on funct field
ALU control Function
0000 AND
0001 OR
0010 add
0110 subtract
0111 set-on-less-than
1100 NOR

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 21

ALU Control
 Assume 2-bit ALUOp derived from opcode
 Combinational logic derives ALU control

opcode ALUOp Operation funct ALU function ALU control

lw 00 load word XXXXXX add 0010
sw 00 store word XXXXXX add 0010
beq 01 branch equal XXXXXX subtract 0110
R-type 10 add 100000 add 0010
subtract 100010 subtract 0110
AND 100100 AND 0000
OR 100101 OR 0001
set-on-less-than 101010 set-on-less-than 0111

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 22

The Main Control Unit
 Control signals derived from instruction
R-type 0 rs rt rd shamt funct
31:26 25:21 20:16 15:11 10:6 5:0

Load/
35 or 43 rs rt address
Store
31:26 25:21 20:16 15:0

Branch 4 rs rt address
31:26 25:21 20:16 15:0

opcode always read, write for sign-extend

read except R-type and add
for load and load

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 23

Datapath With Control

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 24

R-Type Instruction

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 25

Load Instruction

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 26

Branch-on-Equal Instruction

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 27

Implementing Jumps
Jump 2 address
31:26 25:0

 Jump uses word address

 Update PC with concatenation of
 Top 4 bits of old PC
 26-bit jump address
 00
 Need an extra control signal decoded from
opcode
Chapter 4 — The Processor — 28
Datapath With Jumps Added

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 29

Performance Issues
 Longest delay determines clock period
 Critical path: load instruction
 Instruction memory  register file  ALU 
data memory  register file
 Not feasible to vary period for different
instructions
 Violates design principle
 Making the common case fast
 We will improve performance by pipelining

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 30

 §4.5 An Overview of Pipelining
Pipelining Analogy
 Pipelined laundry: overlapping execution
 Parallelism improves performance

 Four loads:
 Speedup
= 8/3.5 = 2.3
 Non-stop:
 Speedup
= 2n/0.5n + 1.5 ≈ 4
= number of stages

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 31

MIPS Pipeline
 Five stages, one step per stage
1. IF: Instruction fetch from memory
2. ID: Instruction decode & register read
3. EX: Execute operation or calculate address
4. MEM: Access memory operand
5. WB: Write result back to register

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 32

 Pipeline Performance
 Assume time for stages is
 100ps for register read or write
 200ps for other stages
 Compare pipelined datapath with single-cycle
datapath

Instr Instr fetch Register ALU op Memory Register Total time

read access write
lw 200ps 100 ps 200ps 200ps 100 ps 800ps
sw 200ps 100 ps 200ps 200ps 700ps
R-format 200ps 100 ps 200ps 100 ps 600ps
beq 200ps 100 ps 200ps 500ps

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 33

Pipeline Performance
Single-cycle (Tc= 800ps)

Pipelined (Tc= 200ps)

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 34

Pipeline Speedup
 If all stages are balanced
 i.e., all take the same time
 Time between instructionspipelined
= Time between instructionsnonpipelined
Number of stages
 If not balanced, speedup is less
 Speedup due to increased throughput
 Latency (time for each instruction) does not
decrease

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 35

Pipelining and ISA Design
 MIPS ISA designed for pipelining
 All instructions are 32-bits
 Easier to fetch and decode in one cycle
 c.f. x86: 1- to 17-byte instructions
 Few and regular instruction formats
 Can decode and read registers in one step
 Load/store addressing
 Can calculate address in 3rd stage, access memory
in 4th stage
 Alignment of memory operands

Memory access takes only one cycle

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 36

Hazards
 Situations that prevent starting the next
instruction in the next cycle
 Structure hazards
 A required resource is busy
 Data hazard
 Need to wait for previous instruction to
complete its data read/write
 Control hazard
 Deciding on control action depends on
previous instruction

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 37

Structure Hazards
 Conflict for use of a resource
 In MIPS pipeline with a single memory
 Load/store requires data access
 Instruction fetch would have to stall for that
cycle

Would cause a pipeline “bubble”
 Hence, pipelined datapaths require
separate instruction/data memories
 Or separate instruction/data caches

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 38

Data Hazards
 An instruction depends on completion of
data access by a previous instruction
 add $s0, $t0, $t1
sub $t2, $s0, $t3

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 39

Forwarding (aka Bypassing)
 Use result when it is computed
 Don’t wait for it to be stored in a register
 Requires extra connections in the datapath

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 40

Load-Use Data Hazard
 Can’t always avoid stalls by forwarding
 If value not computed when needed
 Can’t forward backward in time!

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 41

Code Scheduling to Avoid Stalls
 Reorder code to avoid use of load result in
the next instruction
 C code for A = B + E; C = B + F;

lw $t1, 0($t0) lw $t1, 0($t0)

lw $t2, 4($t0) lw $t2, 4($t0)
stall add $t3, $t1, $t2 lw $t4, 8($t0)
sw $t3, 12($t0) add $t3, $t1, $t2
lw $t4, 8($t0) sw $t3, 12($t0)
stall add $t5, $t1, $t4 add $t5, $t1, $t4
sw $t5, 16($t0) sw $t5, 16($t0)
13 cycles 11 cycles

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 42

Control Hazards
 Branch determines flow of control
 Fetching next instruction depends on branch
outcome
 Pipeline can’t always fetch correct instruction
 Still working on ID stage of branch
 In MIPS pipeline
 Need to compare registers and compute
target early in the pipeline
 Add hardware to do it in ID stage

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 43

Stall on Branch
 Wait until branch outcome determined
before fetching next instruction

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 44

Branch Prediction
 Longer pipelines can’t readily determine
branch outcome early
 Stall penalty becomes unacceptable
 Predict outcome of branch
 Only stall if prediction is wrong
 In MIPS pipeline
 Can predict branches not taken
 Fetch instruction after branch, with no delay

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 45

MIPS with Predict Not Taken

Prediction
correct

Prediction
incorrect

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 46

More-Realistic Branch Prediction
 Static branch prediction
 Based on typical branch behavior
 Example: loop and if-statement branches

Predict backward branches taken

Predict forward branches not taken
 Dynamic branch prediction
 Hardware measures actual branch behavior

e.g., record recent history of each branch
 Assume future behavior will continue the trend

When wrong, stall while re-fetching, and update history

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 47

Pipeline Summary
The BIG Picture
 Pipelining improves performance by
increasing instruction throughput
 Executes multiple instructions in parallel
 Each instruction has the same latency
 Subject to hazards
 Structure, data, control
 Instruction set design affects complexity of
pipeline implementation
Chapter 4 — The Processor — 48
 §4.6 Pipelined Datapath and Control
MIPS Pipelined Datapath

MEM

Right-to-left WB
flow leads to
hazards

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 49

Pipeline registers
 Need registers between stages
 To hold information produced in previous cycle

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 50

Pipeline Operation
 Cycle-by-cycle flow of instructions through
the pipelined datapath
 “Single-clock-cycle” pipeline diagram
 Shows pipeline usage in a single cycle
 Highlight resources used
 c.f. “multi-clock-cycle” diagram
 Graph of operation over time
 We’ll look at “single-clock-cycle” diagrams
for load & store

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 51

IF for Load, Store, …

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 52

ID for Load, Store, …

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 53

EX for Load

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 54

MEM for Load

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 55

WB for Load

Wrong
register
number

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 56

Corrected Datapath for Load

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 57

EX for Store

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 58

MEM for Store

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 59

WB for Store

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 60

Multi-Cycle Pipeline Diagram
 Form showing resource usage

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 61

Multi-Cycle Pipeline Diagram
 Traditional form

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 62

Single-Cycle Pipeline Diagram
 State of pipeline in a given cycle

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 63

Pipelined Control (Simplified)

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 64

Pipelined Control
 Control signals derived from instruction
 As in single-cycle implementation

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 65

Pipelined Control

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 66

 §4.7 Data Hazards: Forwarding vs. Stalling
Data Hazards in ALU Instructions
 Consider this sequence:
sub $2, $1,$3
and $12,$2,$5
or $13,$6,$2
add $14,$2,$2
sw $15,100($2)
 We can resolve hazards with forwarding
 How do we detect when to forward?

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 67

Dependencies & Forwarding

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 68

Detecting the Need to Forward
 Pass register numbers along pipeline
 e.g., ID/EX.RegisterRs = register number for Rs
sitting in ID/EX pipeline register
 ALU operand register numbers in EX stage
are given by
 ID/EX.RegisterRs, ID/EX.RegisterRt
 Data hazards when Fwd from
1a. EX/MEM.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRs EX/MEM
pipeline reg
1b. EX/MEM.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRt
2a. MEM/WB.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRs Fwd from
MEM/WB
2b. MEM/WB.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRt pipeline reg

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 69

Detecting the Need to Forward
 But only if forwarding instruction will write
to a register!
 EX/MEM.RegWrite, MEM/WB.RegWrite
 And only if Rd for that instruction is not
$zero
 EX/MEM.RegisterRd ≠ 0,
MEM/WB.RegisterRd ≠ 0

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 70

Forwarding Paths

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 71

Forwarding Conditions
 EX hazard
 if (EX/MEM.RegWrite and (EX/MEM.RegisterRd ≠ 0)
and (EX/MEM.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRs))
ForwardA = 10
 if (EX/MEM.RegWrite and (EX/MEM.RegisterRd ≠ 0)
and (EX/MEM.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRt))
ForwardB = 10
 MEM hazard
 if (MEM/WB.RegWrite and (MEM/WB.RegisterRd ≠ 0)
and (MEM/WB.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRs))
ForwardA = 01
 if (MEM/WB.RegWrite and (MEM/WB.RegisterRd ≠ 0)
and (MEM/WB.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRt))
ForwardB = 01

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 72

Double Data Hazard
 Consider the sequence:
add $1,$1,$2
add $1,$1,$3
add $1,$1,$4
 Both hazards occur
 Want to use the most recent
 Revise MEM hazard condition
 Only fwd if EX hazard condition isn’t true

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 73

Revised Forwarding Condition
 MEM hazard
 if (MEM/WB.RegWrite and (MEM/WB.RegisterRd ≠ 0)
and not (EX/MEM.RegWrite and (EX/MEM.RegisterRd ≠ 0)
and (EX/MEM.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRs))
and (MEM/WB.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRs))
ForwardA = 01
 if (MEM/WB.RegWrite and (MEM/WB.RegisterRd ≠ 0)
and not (EX/MEM.RegWrite and (EX/MEM.RegisterRd ≠ 0)
and (EX/MEM.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRt))
and (MEM/WB.RegisterRd = ID/EX.RegisterRt))
ForwardB = 01

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 74

Datapath with Forwarding

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 75

Load-Use Data Hazard

Need to stall
for one cycle

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 76

Load-Use Hazard Detection
 Check when using instruction is decoded
in ID stage
 ALU operand register numbers in ID stage
are given by
 IF/ID.RegisterRs, IF/ID.RegisterRt
 Load-use hazard when
 ID/EX.MemRead and
((ID/EX.RegisterRt = IF/ID.RegisterRs) or
(ID/EX.RegisterRt = IF/ID.RegisterRt))
 If detected, stall and insert bubble

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 77

How to Stall the Pipeline
 Force control values in ID/EX register
to 0
 EX, MEM and WB do nop (no-operation)
 Prevent update of PC and IF/ID register
 Using instruction is decoded again
 Following instruction is fetched again
 1-cycle stall allows MEM to read data for lw
 Can subsequently forward to EX stage

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 78

Stall/Bubble in the Pipeline

Stall inserted
here

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 79

Stall/Bubble in the Pipeline

Or, more
accurately…
Chapter 4 — The Processor — 80
Datapath with Hazard Detection

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 81

Stalls and Performance
The BIG Picture
 Stalls reduce performance
 But are required to get correct results
 Compiler can arrange code to avoid
hazards and stalls
 Requires knowledge of the pipeline structure

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 82

 §4.8 Control Hazards
Branch Hazards
 If branch outcome determined in MEM

Flush these
instructions
(Set control
values to 0)

PC

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 83

Reducing Branch Delay
 Move hardware to determine outcome to ID
stage
 Target address adder
 Register comparator
 Example: branch taken
36: sub $10, $4, $8
40: beq $1, $3, 7
44: and $12, $2, $5
48: or $13, $2, $6
52: add $14, $4, $2
56: slt $15, $6, $7
...
72: lw $4, 50($7)

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 84

Example: Branch Taken

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 85

Example: Branch Taken

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 86

Data Hazards for Branches
 If a comparison register is a destination of
2nd or 3rd preceding ALU instruction

add $1, $2, $3 IF ID EX MEM WB

add $4, $5, $6 IF ID EX MEM WB

… IF ID EX MEM WB

beq $1, $4, target IF ID EX MEM WB

 Can resolve using forwarding

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 87

Data Hazards for Branches
 If a comparison register is a destination of
preceding ALU instruction or 2nd preceding
load instruction
 Need 1 stall cycle

lw $1, addr IF ID EX MEM WB

add $4, $5, $6 IF ID EX MEM WB

beq stalled IF ID

beq $1, $4, target ID EX MEM WB

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 88

Data Hazards for Branches
 If a comparison register is a destination of
immediately preceding load instruction
 Need 2 stall cycles

lw $1, addr IF ID EX MEM WB

beq stalled IF ID

beq stalled ID

beq $1, $0, target ID EX MEM WB

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 89

Dynamic Branch Prediction
 In deeper and superscalar pipelines, branch
penalty is more significant
 Use dynamic prediction
 Branch prediction buffer (aka branch history table)
 Indexed by recent branch instruction addresses
 Stores outcome (taken/not taken)
 To execute a branch

Check table, expect the same outcome

Start fetching from fall-through or target

If wrong, flush pipeline and flip prediction

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 90

1-Bit Predictor: Shortcoming
 Inner loop branches mispredicted twice!
outer: …
…
inner: …
…
beq …, …, inner
…
beq …, …, outer

 Mispredict as taken on last iteration of

inner loop
 Then mispredict as not taken on first
iteration of inner loop next time around
Chapter 4 — The Processor — 91
2-Bit Predictor
 Only change prediction on two successive
mispredictions

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 92

Calculating the Branch Target
 Even with predictor, still need to calculate
the target address
 1-cycle penalty for a taken branch
 Branch target buffer
 Cache of target addresses
 Indexed by PC when instruction fetched

If hit and instruction is branch predicted taken, can
fetch target immediately

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 93

 §4.9 Exceptions
Exceptions and Interrupts
 “Unexpected” events requiring change
in flow of control
 Different ISAs use the terms differently
 Exception
 Arises within the CPU

e.g., undefined opcode, overflow, syscall, …
 Interrupt
 From an external I/O controller
 Dealing with them without sacrificing
performance is hard

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 94

Handling Exceptions
 In MIPS, exceptions managed by a System
Control Coprocessor (CP0)
 Save PC of offending (or interrupted) instruction
 In MIPS: Exception Program Counter (EPC)
 Save indication of the problem
 In MIPS: Cause register
 We’ll assume 1-bit

0 for undefined opcode, 1 for overflow
 Jump to handler at 8000 00180

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 95

An Alternate Mechanism
 Vectored Interrupts
 Handler address determined by the cause
 Example:
 Undefined opcode: C000 0000
 Overflow: C000 0020
 …: C000 0040
 Instructions either
 Deal with the interrupt, or
 Jump to real handler

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 96

Handler Actions
 Read cause, and transfer to relevant
handler
 Determine action required
 If restartable
 Take corrective action
 use EPC to return to program
 Otherwise
 Terminate program
 Report error using EPC, cause, …

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 97

 §4.14 Concluding Remarks
Concluding Remarks
 ISA influences design of datapath and control
 Datapath and control influence design of ISA
 Pipelining improves instruction throughput
using parallelism
 More instructions completed per second
 Latency for each instruction not reduced
 Hazards: structural, data, control

Chapter 4 — The Processor — 98