Visible to Intel only — GUID: dnw1629682972886
Ixiasoft
Visible to Intel only — GUID: dnw1629682972886
Ixiasoft
3.2.1. Pipelined Architecture
The Nios® V/m processor employs a five-stage datapath.
Stage | Denotation | Function |
---|---|---|
F | Instruction fetch |
|
D | Instruction decode |
|
E | Instruction execute |
|
M | Memory |
|
W | Write back |
|
The Nios® V/m processor implements the general-purpose register file using the M20K memory blocks. The processor takes one cycle to read from an M20K location. Therefore, the F-stage initiates register file reads so general-purpose register values are available in D-stage.
Writing to the M20K location takes two cycles. Therefore, the M-stage initiates writes to a general-purpose register. If there is a dependency to resolve, the M-stage carries forward the value to the W-stage.
The core resolves data dependencies in the D-stage. Operands can move from register file read or E-stage, M-stage, or W-stage.
- Data dependency—if the source operand is not available in the D-stage, instruction in the D-stage and F-stage stalls until the operand becomes available. This happens when the destination general-purpose register of a load or multicycle instruction in the E-stage or M-stage is the source for the instruction in the D-stage.
- Resource stall—if a memory operation or multicycle is pending in the M-stage, the instructions in the preceding stages stall until M-stage completes the instruction.