Patent ID: 7512740

Claim:
A microprocessor coupled to a system memory by a processor bus, the microprocessor comprising: an instruction decode unit, for decoding a prefetch instruction included in the instruction set of the microprocessor, said prefetch instruction specifying a data stream to be prefetched from the system memory into the microprocessor and a stream prefetch priority to be given to transactions on the processor bus associated with prefetching of the specified data stream from the system memory into the microprocessor relative to other transactions on the processor bus; a load/store unit, coupled to said instruction decode unit, for generating load/store requests to transfer data between the system memory and the microprocessor; a stream prefetch unit, coupled to said instruction decode unit, for generating a plurality of prefetch requests to prefetch said data stream from the system memory into the microprocessor, wherein said prefetch requests specify said stream prefetch priority specified by said prefetch instruction; and a bus interface unit (BIU), coupled to said stream prefetch unit and said load/store unit, for generating transaction requests on the processor bus to transfer data between the system memory and the microprocessor in response to said load/store requests and said prefetch requests, wherein said BIU prioritizes said bus transaction requests for said prefetch requests relative to said bus transaction requests for said load/store requests based on said stream prefetch priority specified by said prefetch instruction.