Re: Promblem with PREF (prefetching) in memcpy

[Carsten Langgaard <carstenl@mips.com>]

Dominic Sweetman wrote:

> Carsten Langgaard (carstenl@mips.com) writes:
>
> > I think we have a problem with the PREF instructions spread out in the
> > memcpy function.
>
> Not really.  The MIPS32 manual (for example):
>
>  "PREF does not cause addressing-related exceptions. If it does happen
>   to raise an exception condition, the exception condition is
>   ignored. If an addressing-related exception condition is raised and
>   ignored, no data movement occurs."

Is a bus error exception an address related exception ?
I'm afraid some implementation think it's not.


>
>   PREF never generates a memory operation for a location with an
>   uncached memory access type."
>
> For a Linux user program, at least, memory pages are "memory-like":
> reads are guaranteed to be side-effect free, so any outlying
> prefetches are harmless.  It's hard to see any circumstance where an
> accessible cacheable location would lead to bad side-effects on read.

What about an UART RX register, we might loose a character ?
You can also configure you system, so you get a external interrupt from you
system controller in case of a bus error, there is no way the CPU can
relate this interrupt to the prefetching.




>
>
> --
> Dominic Sweetman,
> MIPS Technologies (UK) - formerly Algorithmics
> The Fruit Farm, Ely Road, Chittering, CAMBS CB5 9PH, ENGLAND
> phone: +44 1223 706200 / fax: +44 1223 706250 / direct: +44 1223 706205
> http://www.algor.co.uk

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