CSC 456 Spring 2012/10a AJ
Prefetching and Consistency Models
Intro
Methods
Fixed vs. Adaptive Sequential Prefetching
Fixed sequential prefetching refers to prefetching of that occurs at a constant rate over time. Adaptive sequential prefetching, on the other hand, changes the rate of prefetching allowed over time. The prefetching rate is increased/decreased based on the count of successful prefetches. The rate is therefore dependent on workload and application (a start-up process will have a high rate of cold misses). While both methods improve efficiency, adaptive sequential prefetching is the most efficient as well as the most costly.