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Sample Problems

The document provides 4 examples of calculating branch prediction performance metrics for different processor pipeline configurations: 1. Defines the probabilities of different branch types (unconditional, conditional taken/not taken). 2. Calculates CPI contribution from conditional branch stalls given parameters like branch frequency, BTB miss rate/penalty, prediction accuracy/misprediction penalty, and base CPI. 3. Computes CPI with and without a BTB, given branch frequency, BTB hit/miss rates and penalties, and prediction accuracy, to determine speedup from adding a BTB. 4. Calculates average CPI for a 5-stage pipeline processor with a branch prediction unit, accounting for different branch penalties and prediction outcomes

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Giri Prakash
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78 views

Sample Problems

The document provides 4 examples of calculating branch prediction performance metrics for different processor pipeline configurations: 1. Defines the probabilities of different branch types (unconditional, conditional taken/not taken). 2. Calculates CPI contribution from conditional branch stalls given parameters like branch frequency, BTB miss rate/penalty, prediction accuracy/misprediction penalty, and base CPI. 3. Computes CPI with and without a BTB, given branch frequency, BTB hit/miss rates and penalties, and prediction accuracy, to determine speedup from adding a BTB. 4. Calculates average CPI for a 5-stage pipeline processor with a branch prediction unit, accounting for different branch penalties and prediction outcomes

Uploaded by

Giri Prakash
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Example 1:

• What is the probability that a branch is taken?


Given:
• 20% of branches are unconditional branches
Of conditional branches,
• 66% branch forward & are evenly split between taken & not taken
And the rest
• branch backwards & are always taken
Example 2:
What is the contribution to CPI of conditional branch stalls, given:
• 15% branch frequency
• A BTB for conditional branches only with a
• 10% miss rate and a 3-cycle miss penalty
• 92% prediction accuracy and a 7 cycle misprediction penalty
• Base CPI is 1
• What is the hit rate ?
90%

BTB result Prediction Frequency (per Penalty (cycles) Stalls


instruction)
Miss - .15 * .10 = .015 3 0.045

Hit correct .15 * .90 * .92 = .124 0 0

Hit incorrect .15 * .90 * .08 = .011 7 0.076

Total contribution to CPI 0.121


Example 3:
• Suppose we have a deeply pipelined processor, for which we
implemented a branch target buffer (BTB) for conditional branches
only.
• Assume that the misprediction penalty is always 4 cycles and the BTB
miss penalty is always 3 cycles.
• Assume 15% branch frequency, and 90% hit rate and 80% accuracy.
• How much faster is the processor with the branch target buffer versus
a processor that has a fixed 2 cycle branch penalty?
Compute CPI without BTB and CPI with BTB
Example 4:
• Assume a processor with a standard five-stage pipeline (IF, ID, EX,
MEM,WB) and a branch prediction unit (a branch history table) in the
ID-stage. Branch resolution is performed in the EX-stage. There are
four cases for conditional branches:
• The branch is not taken and correctly predicted as not taken (NT/PNT)
• The branch is not taken and predicted as taken (NT/PT)
• The branch is taken and predicted as not taken (T/PNT)
• The branch is taken and correctly predicted as taken (T/PT)

• Suppose that the branch penalties with this design are:


• NT/PNT: 0 cycles
• T/PT: 1 cycle
• NT/PT, T/PNT: 2 cycles
Example 4 continued:
a) Calculate the average CPI for the processor assuming a base CPI of 1.2. Assume
20% conditional branches and that 65% of these are taken on average. Assume
further that the branch prediction unit mispredicts 12% of the conditional
branches.
b) In order to increase the clock frequency from 500 MHz to 600 MHz, a designer
splits the IF-stage into two stages, IF1 and IF2. This makes it easier for the
instruction cache to deliver instructions in time. This also affects the branch
penalties for the branch prediction unit as follows:
• NT/PNT: 0 cycles
• T/PT: 2 cycles
• NT/PT, T/PNT: 3 cycles
c) How much faster is this new processor than the previous that runs on 500
MHz?

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