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In ARM7 and ARM9 PC=current + 8, but in the cortex-A7(8-stage pipeline) the PC is also the same value(PC=current +8), how does this work?

In ARM7 and ARM9 PC=current + 8, but in the cortex-A7(8-stage pipeline) the PC is also the same value(PC=current +8), how does this work?

I think the cortex-A7 has 8-stage pipeline, the PC value is also current+8(this is back-forward for old design), but how it works?

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  • The original ARM design had a 3-stage pipeline (fetch-decode-execute). To simplify the design they chose to have the PC read as the value currently on the instruction fetch address lines, rather than that of the currently executing instruction from 2 cycles ago. Since most PC-relative addresses are calculated at link time, it's easier to have the assembler/linker compensate for that 2-instruction offset than to design all the logic to 'correct' the PC register.

    Of course, that's all firmly on the "things that made sense 30 years ago" pile. Now imagine what it takes to keep a meaningful value in that register on today's 15+ stage, multiple-issue, out-of-order pipelines, and you might appreciate why it's hard to find a CPU designer these days who thinks exposing the PC as a register is a good idea.

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  • The original ARM design had a 3-stage pipeline (fetch-decode-execute). To simplify the design they chose to have the PC read as the value currently on the instruction fetch address lines, rather than that of the currently executing instruction from 2 cycles ago. Since most PC-relative addresses are calculated at link time, it's easier to have the assembler/linker compensate for that 2-instruction offset than to design all the logic to 'correct' the PC register.

    Of course, that's all firmly on the "things that made sense 30 years ago" pile. Now imagine what it takes to keep a meaningful value in that register on today's 15+ stage, multiple-issue, out-of-order pipelines, and you might appreciate why it's hard to find a CPU designer these days who thinks exposing the PC as a register is a good idea.

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