Patent ID: 6314511
Filing Date: 2001-11-06
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for freeing a renaming register, the renaming register being allocated to an architectural register by a processor for the out-of-order execution of at least one of a plurality of instructions, comprising the steps of:(a) before a last use of the architectural register occurs, determining the last use of the architectural register, to determine when the renaming register can be released;(b) based upon results from the step of determining, including an indicator with the plurality of instructions, the indicator indicating that the renaming register is to be freed from allocation to the architectural register following execution of an instruction corresponding to the last use of the renaming register by the architectural register; and(c) employing the indicator to identify the renaming register and the instruction corresponding to the last use of the renaming register by the architectural register to the processor, the processor freeing the identified renaming register from allocation to the architectural register in response to the indicator, following execution of the instruction corresponding to the last use of the renaming register by the architectural register, so that the renaming register is available to the processor for reallocation.