Patent ID: 7587585

Claim:
A method for managing speculative flags in a processor implemented within an integrated circuit and enabled to execute groups of actions, the groups of actions having a program order with respect to each other, the method comprising: managing the groups of actions as atomic elements that are either committed entirely or aborted entirely; storing a checkpoint of the speculative flags that corresponds to a specific one of the groups of actions, the checkpoint being stored before modifying the speculative flags in association with executing any flag-producing actions of the specific group of actions; executing a plurality of flag-producing actions from an older one of the groups of actions that is older than the specific group of actions according to the program order, and for flag-producing actions of the older group of actions, updating the checkpoint that corresponds to the specific group of actions; and restoring, in response to aborting the specific group of actions, the speculative flags based on the checkpoint that corresponds to the specific group of actions.