Importance

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Abstract

A system and method for managing the dynamic sharing of processor resources between threads in a multi-threaded processor are disclosed. Out-of-order allocation and deallocation may be employed to efficiently use the various resources of the processor. Each element of an allocate vector may indicate whether a corresponding resource is available for allocation. A search of the allocate vector may be performed to identify resources available for allocation. Upon allocation of a resource, a thread identifier associated with the thread to which the resource is allocated may be associated with the allocate vector entry corresponding to the allocated resource. Multiple instances of a particular resource type may be allocated or deallocated in a single processor execution cycle. Each element of a deallocate vector may indicate whether a corresponding resource is ready for deallocation. Examples of resources that may be dynamically shared between threads are reorder buffers, load buffers and store buffers.

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First Claim