Appeal No. 1998-1113
Application 08/533,878
The invention relates to a way of protecting store
operations without affecting load operations and to protection
of load operations without affecting store operations. The
functions are performed without requiring additional CPU time.
This goal is accomplished by providing an ordered store
instruction which prevents the CPU from performing its ordered
store operation until preceding store operations are
completed. In addition, an ordered load instruction prevents
the CPU from performing subsequent load operations until its
ordered load operation is completed. 1
Independent claims 1, 4 and 7 are as follows:
1. A method of ordering load operations performed by a
CPU executing a stream of instructions, wherein the stream of
instructions are in a program order and include load
instructions and store instructions, and the load instructions
each perform a load operation, the method comprising:
detecting an ordered load instruction in the stream of
instructions;
preventing the CPU from executing a load instruction
subsequent in the program order to the ordered load
instruction prior to the load operation requested by the
ordered load instruction being completed by the CPU; and
allowing the CPU to not execute a load instruction
preceding in the program order the ordered load instruction
1See pages 4-5 and 11-12 of the specification.
2
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