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Google patents chip buffer that learns when to stop waiting for data

This patent describes a method for a computer chip component called a store gather buffer to improve efficiency. It learns common data patterns from previous operations and uses them to close data entries early, rather than waiting for a full time period.

Why it mattersThis is a low-level hardware optimization that helps processors manage memory more efficiently, reducing wasted processing time.

In the filing’s own words

A store gather buffer is disclosed that can determine when to close/drain an entry so that it does not waste clock cycles waiting for data (i.e., stores) that will never arrive. The store gather buffer is configured to determine byte-patterns of entries as they are drained. When a particular byte-pattern appears multiple times, then the store gather buffer can remember this byte-pattern as a reference byte-pattern. During a subsequent merge period, if an accumulated byte-pattern in an entry matches this reference byte-pattern, then the merge period can be ended early, and the entry can be closed/drained.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method for controlling a store gather buffer, the method comprising: generating a reference byte-pattern based on a learning process; allocating an entry of the store gather buffer to a cache line of a cache coupled to the store gather buffer; writing stores, received at the store gather buffer, to respective segments of the entry during a merge period; determining, after each of the stores is written, an accumulated byte-pattern in the entry, the accumulated byte-pattern indicating bytes of the cache line that are present and bytes of the cache line that are not present; comparing the accumulated byte-pattern to the reference byte-pattern; closing the entry before the merge period ends when the accumulated byte-pattern matches the reference byte-pattern; and draining the entry to write-back the accumulated byte-pattern to the cache line of the cache after closing the entry.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Store gather buffer having an automatically adjustable merge period
Patent number
US12769660B1
Application number
19212065
Filed
May 19, 2025
Granted
Oct 20, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
20

Classified under

G06F 12/0815 Physics & computingG06F 2212/604 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.