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21264/EV68A Hardware Reference Manual
Internal Architecture 2–27
Memory and I/O Address Space Instructions
The Ebox executes integer CMOV instructions as two distinct 1-cycle latency opera-
tions. The Fbox add pipeline executes floating-point CMOV instructions as two distinct
4-cycle latency operations.
2.8 Memory and I/O Address Space Instructions
This section provides an overview of the way the 21264/EV68A processes memory and
I/O address space instructions.
The 21264/EV68A supports, and internally recognizes, a 44-bit physical address space
that is divided equally between memory address space and I/O address space. Memory
address space resides in the lower half of the physical address space (PA[43]=0)
and I/O address space resides in the upper half of the physical address space
(PA[43]=1).
The IQ can issue any combination of load and store instructions to the Mbox at the rate
of two per cycle. The two lower Ebox subclusters, L0 and L1, generate the
48-bit effective virtual address for these instructions.
An instruction is defined to be newer than another instruction if it follows that instruc-
tion in program order and is older if it precedes that instruction in program order.
2.8.1 Memory Address Space Load Instructions
The Mbox begins execution of a load instruction by translating its virtual address to a
physical address using the DTB and by accessing the Dcache. The Dcache is virtually
indexed, allowing these two operations to be done in parallel. The Mbox puts informa-
tion about the load instruction, including its physical address, destination register, and
data format, into the LQ.
If the requested physical location is found in the Dcache (a hit), the data is formatted
and written into the appropriate integer or floating-point register. If the location is not in
the Dcache (a miss), the physical address is placed in the miss address file (MAF) for
processing by the Cbox. The MAF performs a merging function in which a new miss
address is compared to miss addresses already held in the MAF. If the new miss address
points to the same Dcache block as a miss address in the MAF, then the new miss
address is discarded.
When Dcache fill data is returned to the Dcache by the Cbox, the Mbox satisfies the
requesting load instructions in the LQ.
2.8.2 I/O Address Space Load Instructions
Because I/O space load instructions may have side effects, they cannot be performed
speculatively. When the Mbox receives an I/O space load instruction, the Mbox places
the load instruction in the LQ, where it is held until it retires. The Mbox replays retired
I/O space load instructions from the LQ to the MAF in program order, at a rate of one
per GCLK cycle.