<- previous    index    next ->

Lecture 17, Pipelining 2


The pipeline for this course with branch and jump optimized:



In a later lecture, we will cover data forwarding to avoid nop's in
arithmetic and automatic stall to avoid putting all nop's in source code.

For the basic machine above, we have the timing shown here.

The branch slot, programming to avoid delays (filling in nop's):

    if(a==b)  x=3; /* simple C code */
    else      x=4;
    y=5;

       lw   $1,a       # possible unoptimized assembly language
       lw   $2,b       # no ($0) shown on memory access
       nop             # wait for b to get into register 2
       nop             # wait for b to get into register 2
       beq  $1,$2,lab1
       nop             # branch slot, always executed *********
       addi $1,4       # else part
       nop             # wait for 4 to get into register 1
       nop             # wait for 4 to get into register 1
       sw   $1,x       # x=4;
       j    lab2
       nop             # branch slot, always executed *********
lab1:  addi $1,3       # true part
       nop             # wait for 3 to get into register 1
       nop             # wait for 3 to get into register 1
       sw   $1,x       # x=3;
lab2:  addi $1,5       # after if-else, always execute
       nop             # wait for 5 to get into register 1
       nop             # wait for 5 to get into register 1
       sw   $1,y       # y=5;

Unoptimized, 20 instructions.

Now, a smart compiler would produce the optimized code:

       lw   $1,a       # possible unoptimized assembly language
       lw   $2,b       # no ($0) shown on memory access
       addi $4,4       # for else part later
       addi $3,3       # for true part later
       beq  $1,$2,lab1
       addi $5,5       # branch slot, always executed, for after if-else
       j    lab2
       sw   $4,x       # x=4; in branch slot, always executed !! after jump
lab1:  sw   $3,x       # x=3;
lab2:  sw   $5,y       # y=5;

Optimized, 10 instructions.


The pipeline stage diagram for a==b true is:
                    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12  clock
   lw   $1,a       IF ID EX MM WB
   lw   $2,b          IF ID EX MM WB
   addi $4,4             IF ID EX MM WB
   addi $3,3                IF ID EX MM WB
   beq  $1,$2,L1               IF ID EX MM WB     assume equal, branch to L1
   addi $5,5                      IF ID EX MM WB  delayed branch slot
   j    L2
   sw   $4,x       
L1:sw   $3,x                         IF ID EX MM WB
L2:sw   $5,y                            IF ID EX MM WB
                    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12

The pipeline stage diagram for a==b false is:
                    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13  clock
   lw   $1,a       IF ID EX MM WB
   lw   $2,b          IF ID EX MM WB
   addi $4,4             IF ID EX MM WB
   addi $3,3                IF ID EX MM WB
   beq  $1,$2,L1               IF ID EX MM WB     assume not equal
   addi $5,5                      IF ID EX MM WB 
   j    L2                           IF ID EX MM WB  jumps to L2
   sw   $4,x                            IF ID EX MM WB
L1:sw   $3,x       
L2:sw   $5,y                               IF ID EX MM WB
                    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13

    if(a==b)  x=3; /* simple C code */
    else      x=4;
    y=5;


Renaming when there are extra registers that the programmer can
not assess (diagram in Alpha below) with multiple units there can be
multiple issue (parallel execution of instructions) 

The architecture sees the binary instructions from the following:

   lw   $1,a
   lw   $2,b
   nop
   sll  $3,$1,8
   sll  $6,$2,8
   add  $9,$1,$2
   sw   $3,c
   sw   $6,d
   sw   $9,e
   lw   $1,aa
   lw   $2,bb
   nop
   sll  $3,$1,8
   sll  $6,$2,8
   add  $9,$1,$2
   sw   $3,cc
   sw   $6,dd
   sw   $9,ee

Two ALU's, each with their own pipelines, multiple issue, register renaming:
The architecture executes two instruction streams in parallel.
(Assume only 32 user programmable registers, 80 registers in hardware.)

   lw   $1,a           lw   $41,aa
   lw   $2,b           lw   $42,bb
   nop                 nop
   sll  $3,$1,8        sll  $43,$41,8
   sll  $6,$2,8        sll  $46,$42,8
   add  $9,$1,$2       add  $49,$41,$42
   sw   $3,c           sw   $43,cc
   sw   $6,d           sw   $46,dd
   sw   $9,e           sw   $49,ee



Out of order execution to avoid delays. As seen in the first example,
changing the order of execution without changing the semantics of the
program can achieve faster execution.

There can be multiple issue when there are multiple arithmetic and
other units. This will require significant hardware to detect the
amount of out of order instructions that can be issued each clock.

Now, hardware can also be pipelined, for example a parallel multiplier.
Suppose we need to have at most 8 gate delays between pipeline
registers.



Note that any and-or-not logic can be converted to use only nand gates
or only nor gates. Thus, two level logic can have two gate delays.

We can build each multiplier stage with two gate delays. Thus we can
have only four multiplier stages then a pipeline register. Using a
carry save parallel 32-bit by 32-bit multiplier we need 32 stages, and
thus eight pipeline stages plus one extra stage for the final adder.



Note that a multiply can be started every clock. Thus a multiply
can be finished every clock. The speedup including the last adder
stage is 9 as shown in:
pipemul_test.vhdl
pipemul_test.out
pipemul.vhdl



A 64-bit PG adder may be built with eight or less gate delays.
The signals a, b and sum are 64 bits. See add64.vhdl for details.



add64.vhdl



Any combinational logic can be performed in two levels with "and" gates
feeding "or" gates, assuming complementation time can be ignored.
Some designers may use diagrams but I wrote a Quine McClusky minimization
program that computes the two level and-or-not VHDL statement
for combinational logic.

quine_mcclusky.c

eqn4.dat

eqn4.out


Not as practical, I wrote a Myhill minimization of a finite state machine,
a Deterministic Finite Automata, that inputs a state transition table
and outputs the minimum state equivalent machine. "Not as practical" 
because the design of sequential logic should be understandable. The
minimized machine's function is typically unrecognizable.

myhill.cpp



A reasonably complete architecture description for the Alpha
showing the pipeline is:

basic Alpha
more complete Alpha

The "Cell" chip has unique architecture:

Cell architecture

Some technical data on Intel Core Duo (With some advertising.)

Core Duo all on WEB

From Intel, with lots of advertising:
tech overview

whitepaper

architecture, a little information

Intel quad core demonstrated

IBM quad core Power 6 with, finally, higher clock speeds


Compare
with Sun Sparc higher clock speeds



local, bad formatting
Core Duo 1
Core Duo 2
Core Duo 3
Core Duo 4
Core Duo 5
Core Duo 6
Core Duo 7
Core Duo 8

    <- previous    index    next ->

Other links

Go to top