This paper addresses exploiting multi-way branches to boost superscalar processor performance. The work presented in this paper comprises two conjunctive parts. The first part is a compiler techniquecalled the SV (Shadow Variable) transformation. The second part is a new multi-way branch scheme developed in conjunction with the SV transformation. The SV transformation can transform program segments in which multi-way branches are originally not applicable into ones in which multi-way branches are applicable. The proposed multi-way branch scheme is able to carry out multi-way branches efficiently, especially for those derived from applying the SV transformation. An effectiveness evaluation shows the SV transformation and the proposed multi-way branch mechanism together can boost superscalar processor performance by 11–14%.
['Yen-Jen Oyang']
Exploiting multi-way branches to boost superscalar processor performance