Microsoft patents chip design to speed up branch prediction
Microsoft describes a computer chip component that helps processors guess where code will jump next. It adds a small memory buffer to catch predictions that were just removed from the main cache, improving speed.
In the filing’s own words
Improved branch target buffer (BTB) structures are provided. A device can include branch target buffers storing entries corresponding to branch instructions and corresponding targets of the branch instructions. The device can include a victim cache storing a branch target buffer entry that has been evicted from a branch target buffer of the branch target buffers. The device can include branch prediction circuitry configured to access the victim cache responsive to receiving respective miss indications from each branch target buffer of the branch target buffers.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A device comprising: branch target buffers storing entries corresponding to branch instructions and corresponding targets of the branch instructions; a victim cache storing a branch target buffer entry that has been evicted from a branch target buffer of the branch target buffers; branch prediction circuitry configured to access the victim cache responsive to receiving respective miss indications from each branch target buffer of the branch target buffers a miss queue coupled between the branch prediction circuitry and the victim cache, the miss queue configured to store a program counter value associated with an instruction of the instructions for which respective miss indications from each branch target buffer of the branch target buffers is received; and an eviction queue coupled between the branch target buffers and the victim cache, the eviction queue configured to receive the entry that has been evicted, wherein a write from the eviction queue has a lower priority than a read from the miss queue.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- BRANCH TARGET BUFFER VICTIM CACHE
- Publication number
- US20260259735A1
- Application number
- 19653306
- Filed
- Apr 21, 2026
- Published
- Sep 3, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G06F 9/3806 Physics & computingG06F 9/3844 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in Chips & hardware
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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.