Prefetch performance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10191847-B2
Application number	US-201715811106-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2017
Priority date	May 26, 2017
Publication date	Jan 29, 2019
Grant date	Jan 29, 2019

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for identifying data streams in a processor that are likely to and not likely to benefit from data prefetching. A prefetcher receives at least a first request in a plurality of requests to pre-fetch data from a stream in a plurality of streams. The prefetcher assigns a confidence level to the first request based on an amount of confirmations observed in the stream. The request is in a confident state if the confidence level exceeds a specified value. The first request is in a non-confident state if the confidence level does not exceed the specified value. Requests to prefetch data in the plurality of requests that are associated with respective streams with a low prefetch utilization are deprioritized. Doing so allows a memory controller to determine whether to drop the at least the first request based on the confidence level, prefetch utilization, and memory resource utilization.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable by a processor to cause the processor to:
receive at least a first request in a plurality of requests to pre-fetch data from a stream in a plurality of streams;
assign a confidence level to the at least the first request based on an amount of confirmations observed in the stream, wherein the at least the first request is in a confident state if the confidence level exceeds a specified phase threshold and wherein the at least the first request is in a non-confident state if the confidence level does not exceed the specified phase threshold;
prioritize requests to prefetch data in the plurality of requests having a higher confidence level than the confidence level of the first request to pre-fetch data;

deprioritize requests to prefetch data in the plurality of requests that are associated with respective streams with a low prefetch utilization ratio; and
determine whether to drop the at least the first request based on the confidence level, based upon a prefetch utilization ratio of the stream, and based upon a memory resource utilization threshold.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are further readable by the processor to cause the processor to:
maintain a phase counter for each stream in the plurality of streams, wherein the phase counter is incremented for each request in the confident state and wherein the counter is decremented for each request in the non-confident state; and
maintain a prefetch utilization counter for each stream in the plurality of streams, wherein the prefetch utilization counter is decremented for each request to pre-fetch data from the stream and wherein the prefetch utilization counter is incremented when a cache line in the stream is utilized.

3. The computer program product of claim 2 , wherein the program instructions are further readable by the processor to cause the processor to:
determine whether to increase or decrease a rate at which pre-fetches from the stream occur based on the phase counter for the stream, based upon the prefetch utilization counter for the stream, and a current memory resource utilization.

4. The computer program product of claim 3 , wherein the program instructions are further readable by the processor to cause the processor to:
upon determining that the current memory resource utilization is below a specified threshold, increasing the rate at which the pre-fetches occur.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are further readable by the processor to cause the processor to, prior to determining whether to drop the at least first request, select the memory resource utilization threshold based on memory resource utilization during a specified amount of past cycles.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are further readable by the processor to cause the processor to:
upon determining that the confidence level does not exceed the memory resource utilization threshold, drop the first request.

7. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are further readable by the processor to cause the processor to,
upon determining that the confidence level does not exceed the memory resource utilization threshold and upon determining that the prefetch utilization ratio of the stream does not exceed a prefetch utilization threshold, drop the first request.

8. A processor, comprising:
a prefetcher configured to:
receive at least a first request in a plurality of requests to pre-fetch data from a stream in a plurality of streams,
assign a confidence level to the at least the first request based on an amount of confirmations observed in the stream, wherein the at least the first request is in a confident state if the confidence level exceeds a specified phase threshold and wherein the at least the first request is in a non-confident state if the confidence level does not exceed the specified phase threshold,
prioritize requests to prefetch data in the plurality of requests having a higher confidence level than the confidence level of the first request to pre-fetch data,

deprioritize requests to prefetch data in the plurality of requests that are associated with respective streams with a low prefetch utilization ratio, and
determine whether to drop the at least the first request based on the confidence level, based upon a prefetch utilization ratio of the stream, and based upon a memory resource utilization threshold.

9. The processor of claim 8 , wherein the prefetcher is further configured to:
maintain a phase counter for each stream in the plurality of streams, wherein the phase counter is incremented for each request in the confident state and wherein the counter is decremented for each request in the non-confident state, and
maintain a prefetch utilization counter for each stream in the plurality of streams, wherein the prefetch utilization counter is decremented for each request to pre-fetch data from the stream and wherein the prefetch utilization counter is incremented when a cache line in the stream is utilized.

10. The processor of claim 9 , wherein the prefetcher is further configured to:
determine whether to increase or decrease a rate at which pre-fetches from the stream occur based on the phase counter for the stream, based upon the prefetch utilization counter for the stream, and a current memory resource utilization.

11. The processor of claim 10 , wherein the prefetcher is further configured to:
upon a determination that the current memory resource utilization is below a specified threshold, increase the rate at which the pre-fetches occur.

12. The processor of claim 8 , wherein the prefetcher is further configured to, prior to determining whether to drop the at least first request:
select the memory resource utilization threshold based on memory resource utilization during a specified amount of past cycles.

13. The processor of claim 8 , wherein the prefetcher is further configured to:
upon determining that the confidence level does not exceed the memory resource utilization threshold, drop the first request.

14. The processor of claim 8 , wherein the prefetcher is further configured to:
upon determining that the confidence level does not exceed the memory resource utilization threshold and upon determining that the prefetch utilization ratio of the stream does not exceed a prefetch utilization threshold, drop the first request.

15. A system, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor, comprising:
a prefetcher configured to:
receive at least a first request in a plurality of requests to pre-fetch data from a stream in a plurality of streams,
assign a confidence level to the at least the first request based on an amount of confirmations observed in the stream, wherein the at least the first request is in a confident state if the confidence level exceeds a specified phase threshold and wherein the at least the first request is in a non-confident state if the confidence level does not exceed the specified phase threshold,
prioritize requests to prefetch data in the plurality of requests having a higher confidence level than the confidence level of the first request to pre-fetch data,

deprioritize requests to prefetch data in the plurality of requests that are associated with respective streams with a low prefetch utilization ratio, and
determine whether to drop the at least the

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Drerup Bernard C
• Eickemeyer Richard J
• Guthrie Guy L
• Karve Mohit
• Rohrbaugh Iii George W
• Thompto Brian W

Classifications

• G06F2212/6024

  History based prefetching · CPC title

• G06F2212/1016

  Performance improvement · CPC title

• G06F2212/602

  Details relating to cache prefetching · CPC title

• G06F12/0897

  with two or more cache hierarchy levels (with multilevel cache hierarchies G06F12/0811) · CPC title

• G06F12/0862 Primary

  with prefetch · CPC title