METHOD AND DEVICE FOR REDUCING THREAD CHANGEOVER WAITING TIME IN MULTI-THREAD PROCESSOR

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten thread changeover waiting time by providing a thread changeover instruction queue for storing instructions for a suspension thread other than a main instruction queue. ;SOLUTION: When thread changeover is performed, control logic 6 changes the state of thread changeover signals from a low level to a high level during one clock cycle. As a result, an output multiplexer 16 outputs the instructions stored in the thread changeover instruction queue 14. Since the thread changeover instruction queue 14 stores many instructions, the instructions not dispatched to plural processing pipelines are received by an instruction filling multiplexer 12. The instruction filling multiplexer 12 outputs instruction output outputted from the output multiplexer 16 to the main instruction queue 10 corresponding to the state change of the thread changeover signals. In such a manner, in a single clock cycle, the instruction from the suspension thread to be turned to an active thread is dispatched to the processing pipeline and transferred to the main instruction queue 10.;COPYRIGHT: (C)1998,JPO