Patent ID: 6230251
Filing Date: 2001-05-08
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method of reducing port pressure in a clustered processor, the clustered processor including a plurality of clusters of execution units which operate in conjunction with a storage element of the clustered processor to perform execution operations for instructions retrieved and decoded within the clustered processor, with each of the clusters having a portion of the storage element associated therewith, such that a given cluster is permitted to write to and read from its associated portion of the storage element, the method comprising the step of:replicating at least one of a register lock file and a predicate lock file of the processor for each of at least a subset of the plurality of clusters, wherein the register lock file and the predicate lock file comprise designated physical storage locations within the clustered processor and further wherein the replicating step reduces a number of register ports which would otherwise be required within the clustered processor.