Branch-directed and pointer-based data cache prefetching

In this paper we provide a survey of hardware-based data cache prefetching strategies. We then present two new methods which improve both the accuracy and effectiveness of data cache prefetching. The first design ties data address prediction to the instruction prefetching logic, allowing data cache prefetching to work in tandem with dynamic branch prediction. The second mechanism prefetches link-based data structures, typically problematic data accesses for sequential prefetching schemes. Combining the two mechanisms we can improve data cache hit rates, while reducing memory bus traffic by as much as 50%.