A processor executes all non?branch instructions in one cycle. This processor implements branch prediction, which incurs an additional penalty of 2 cycles if the prediction is correct and 4 cycles if the prediction is incorrect.

a. If conditional branch instructions occupy 15% of the instruction stream, and the probability of an incorrect
branch prediction is 20%, what is the average number of cycles per instruction?
b. If the same processor is to run no less than 28% slower than a machine with a zero branch penalty when up
to 20% of the instructions are conditional branches, what level of accuracy must the branch prediction
achieve on average?


a. CPI = non?branch cycles + branch cycles (correct prediction) + branch cycles (incorrect prediction)
= 0.85 × 1 + 0.15(0.80 × 2 + 0.20 × 4) = 0.85 + 0.15(2.4) = 0.85 + 0.36 = 1.21 CPI
b. A machine with a zero branch penalty runs at 1.0 CPI.
CPI = 0.80 + 0.20(Pc × 2 + (1 ? Pc) × 4) = 0.8 + 0.20(4 ? 2Pc) = 0.85 + 0.80 ? 0.4Pc = 1.65 ? 0.4Pc.
This must not be 28% less than a machine with no branch penalties; that is 1.65 ? 0.4Pc = 1.28 and Pc = (1.65 ?
1.28)/0.40 = 0.925; that is the branch prediction must be about 93% accurate.

Computer Science & Information Technology

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