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6–10 Privileged Architecture Library Code
Alpha 21264/EV67 Hardware Reference Manual
Internal Processor Register Access Mechanisms
For convenience of implementation, there is no IPR scoreboard bit checking within the
same fetch block (octaword-aligned octaword).
• Within one fetch block, there can be only one explicit writer (HW_MTPR) to an
IPR in a particular scoreboard group.
• Within one fetch block, an explicit writer (HW_MTPR) to an IPR in a particular
scoreboard group cannot be followed by an explicit reader (HW_MFPR) to an IPR
in that same scoreboard group.
• Within one fetch block, an explicit writer (HW_MTPR) to an IPR in a particular
scoreboard group cannot be followed by an implicit reader to an IPR in that score-
board group. This case covers writes to DTB_PTE or DTB_TAG followed by a
LD, ST, or any memory operation, including HW_RETs without the ‘stall’ bit set.
6.5.5 Correct Ordering of Explicit Writers Followed by Implicit Readers
Across fetch blocks, the correct ordering of the explicit write of the DTB_PTE or
DTB_TAG followed by an implicit reader (memory operation) is guaranteed using the
IPR scoreboard bits.
However, there are cases where correct ordering of explicit writers followed by implicit
readers cannot be guaranteed using the IPR scoreboard mechanism. If the instruction
that implicitly reads the IPR does so before the issue stage of the pipeline, the score-
board mechanism is not sufficient.
For example, modification of the ITB affects instructions before the issue state of the
pipeline. In this case, PALcode must contain a HW_RET instruction, with its stall bit
set, before any instruction that implicitly reads the IPR(s) in question. This prevents
instructions that are newer than the HW_RET instruction from being successfully
fetched, issued, and retired until after the HW_RET instruction is retired (or aborted).
There are also cases when the HW_RET with the STALL bit mechanism is not suffi-
cient. There may be additional propagation delay past the retirement of the HW_RET
instruction. In these cases, instead of using a HW_RET, a suggested method of ensur-
ing the ordering is coding a group of 5 fetch blocks, where the first contains the
HW_MTPR to the IPR, the second contains a HW_MTPR to the same IPR or one in the
same scoreboard group, and where the following 3 fetch blocks each contain at least
one non-NOP instruction. See Appendix D for a listing of cases where this method is
recommended.
Explicit
Writer
Reader reads
second register.
Writer cannot
write second
register until it
is retired.
Write-one-to-clear
bits, or performance
counter special case.
For example, perfor-
mance counter incre-
ments are typically
not scoreboarded
against read transac-
tions.
Reader reads second
register. Writer cannot
write second register
until it is retired.
Scoreboard bits stall second
writer in map stage until first
writer is retired.
Table 6–7 Paired Instruction Fetch Order (Continued)
Second
Instruction First Instruction