X86 Internals for Fun and Profit
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Microcode Revision Guidance August 31, 2019 MCU Recommendations
microcode revision guidance August 31, 2019 MCU Recommendations Section 1 – Planned microcode updates • Provides details on Intel microcode updates currently planned or available and corresponding to Intel-SA-00233 published June 18, 2019. • Changes from prior revision(s) will be highlighted in yellow. Section 2 – No planned microcode updates • Products for which Intel does not plan to release microcode updates. This includes products previously identified as such. LEGEND: Production Status: • Planned – Intel is planning on releasing a MCU at a future date. • Beta – Intel has released this production signed MCU under NDA for all customers to validate. • Production – Intel has completed all validation and is authorizing customers to use this MCU in a production environment. -
The Central Processing Unit(CPU). the Brain of Any Computer System Is the CPU
Computer Fundamentals 1'stage Lec. (8 ) College of Computer Technology Dept.Information Networks The central processing unit(CPU). The brain of any computer system is the CPU. It controls the functioning of the other units and process the data. The CPU is sometimes called the processor, or in the personal computer field called “microprocessor”. It is a single integrated circuit that contains all the electronics needed to execute a program. The processor calculates (add, multiplies and so on), performs logical operations (compares numbers and make decisions), and controls the transfer of data among devices. The processor acts as the controller of all actions or services provided by the system. Processor actions are synchronized to its clock input. A clock signal consists of clock cycles. The time to complete a clock cycle is called the clock period. Normally, we use the clock frequency, which is the inverse of the clock period, to specify the clock. The clock frequency is measured in Hertz, which represents one cycle/second. Hertz is abbreviated as Hz. Usually, we use mega Hertz (MHz) and giga Hertz (GHz) as in 1.8 GHz Pentium. The processor can be thought of as executing the following cycle forever: 1. Fetch an instruction from the memory, 2. Decode the instruction (i.e., determine the instruction type), 3. Execute the instruction (i.e., perform the action specified by the instruction). Execution of an instruction involves fetching any required operands, performing the specified operation, and writing the results back. This process is often referred to as the fetch- execute cycle, or simply the execution cycle. -
The Microarchitecture of a Low Power Register File
The Microarchitecture of a Low Power Register File Nam Sung Kim and Trevor Mudge Advanced Computer Architecture Lab The University of Michigan 1301 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2122 {kimns, tnm}@eecs.umich.edu ABSTRACT Alpha 21464, the 512-entry 16-read and 8-write (16-r/8-w) ports register file consumed more power and was larger than The access time, energy and area of the register file are often the 64 KB primary caches. To reduce the cycle time impact, it critical to overall performance in wide-issue microprocessors, was implemented as two 8-r/8-w split register files [9], see because these terms grow superlinearly with the number of read Figure 1. Figure 1-(a) shows the 16-r/8-w file implemented and write ports that are required to support wide-issue. This paper directly as a monolithic structure. Figure 1-(b) shows it presents two techniques to reduce the number of ports of a register implemented as the two 8-r/8-w register files. The monolithic file intended for a wide-issue microprocessor without hardly any register file design is slow because each memory cell in the impact on IPC. Our results show that it is possible to replace a register file has to drive a large number of bit-lines. In register file with 16 read and 8 write ports, intended for an eight- contrast, the split register file is fast, but duplicates the issue processor, with a register file with just 8 read and 8 write contents of the register file in two memory arrays, resulting in ports so that the impact on IPC is a few percent. -
1.1.2. Register File
國 立 交 通 大 學 資訊科學與工程研究所 碩 士 論 文 同步多執行緒架構中可彈性切割與可延展的暫存 器檔案設計之研究 Design of a Flexibly Splittable and Stretchable Register File for SMT Architectures 研 究 生:鐘立傑 指導教授:單智君 教授 中 華 民 國 九 十 六 年 八 月 I II III IV 同步多執行緒架構中可彈性切割與可延展的暫存 器檔案設計之研究 學生:鐘立傑 指導教授:單智君 博士 國立交通大學資訊科學與工程研究所 碩士班 摘 要 如何利用最少的硬體資源來支援同步多執行緒是一個很重要的研究議題,暫存 器檔案(Register file)在微處理器晶片面積中佔有顯著的比例。而且為了支援同步多 執行緒,每一個執行緒享有自己的一份暫存器檔案,這樣的設計會增加晶片的面積。 在本篇論文中,我們提出了一份可彈性切割與可延展的暫存器檔案設計,在這 個設計裡:1.我們可以在需要的時候彈性切割一份暫存器檔案給兩個執行緒來同時 使用,2.適當的延伸暫存器檔案的大小來增加兩個執行緒共用的機會。 藉由我們設計可以得到的益處有:1.增加硬體資源的使用率,2. 減少對於記憶 體的存取以及 3.提升系統的效能。此外我們設計概念可以任意的滿足不同的應用程 式的需求。 V Design of a Flexibly Splittable and Stretchable Register File for SMT Architectures Student:Li-Jie Jhing Advisor:Dr, Jean Jyh-Jiun Shann Institute of Computer Science and Engineering National Chiao-Tung University Abstract How to support simultaneous multithreading (SMT) with minimum resource hence becomes a critical research issue. The register file in a microprocessor typically occupies a significant portion of the chip area, and in order to support SMT, each thread will have a copy of register file. That will increase the area overhead. In this thesis, we propose a register file design techniques that can 1. Split a copy of physical register file flexibly into two independent register sets when required, simultaneously operable for two independent threads. 2. Stretch the size of the physical register file arbitrarily, to increase probability of sharing by two threads. Benefits of these designs are: 1. Increased hardware resource utilization. 2. Reduced memory -
Multiprocessing Contents
Multiprocessing Contents 1 Multiprocessing 1 1.1 Pre-history .............................................. 1 1.2 Key topics ............................................... 1 1.2.1 Processor symmetry ...................................... 1 1.2.2 Instruction and data streams ................................. 1 1.2.3 Processor coupling ...................................... 2 1.2.4 Multiprocessor Communication Architecture ......................... 2 1.3 Flynn’s taxonomy ........................................... 2 1.3.1 SISD multiprocessing ..................................... 2 1.3.2 SIMD multiprocessing .................................... 2 1.3.3 MISD multiprocessing .................................... 3 1.3.4 MIMD multiprocessing .................................... 3 1.4 See also ................................................ 3 1.5 References ............................................... 3 2 Computer multitasking 5 2.1 Multiprogramming .......................................... 5 2.2 Cooperative multitasking ....................................... 6 2.3 Preemptive multitasking ....................................... 6 2.4 Real time ............................................... 7 2.5 Multithreading ............................................ 7 2.6 Memory protection .......................................... 7 2.7 Memory swapping .......................................... 7 2.8 Programming ............................................. 7 2.9 See also ................................................ 8 2.10 References ............................................. -
Evaluation of the Intel Sandy Bridge-EP Server Processor
Evaluation of the Intel Sandy Bridge-EP server processor Sverre Jarp, Alfio Lazzaro, Julien Leduc, Andrzej Nowak CERN openlab, March 2012 – version 2.2 Executive Summary In this paper we report on a set of benchmark results recently obtained by CERN openlab when comparing an 8-core “Sandy Bridge-EP” processor with Intel’s previous microarchitecture, the “Westmere-EP”. The Intel marketing names for these processors are “Xeon E5-2600 processor series” and “Xeon 5600 processor series”, respectively. Both processors are produced in a 32nm process, and both platforms are dual-socket servers. Multiple benchmarks were used to get a good understanding of the performance of the new processor. We used both industry-standard benchmarks, such as SPEC2006, and specific High Energy Physics benchmarks, representing both simulation of physics detectors and data analysis of physics events. Before summarizing the results we must stress the fact that benchmarking of modern processors is a very complex affair. One has to control (at least) the following features: processor frequency, overclocking via Turbo mode, the number of physical cores in use, the use of logical cores via Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT), the cache sizes available, the memory configuration installed, as well as the power configuration if throughput per watt is to be measured. Software must also be kept under control and we show that a change of operating system or compiler can lead to different results, as well. We have tried to do a good job of comparing like with like. In summary, we obtained a performance improvement of 9 – 20% per core and 46 – 60% improvement across all cores available. -
The Intel X86 Microarchitectures Map Version 2.0
The Intel x86 Microarchitectures Map Version 2.0 P6 (1995, 0.50 to 0.35 μm) 8086 (1978, 3 µm) 80386 (1985, 1.5 to 1 µm) P5 (1993, 0.80 to 0.35 μm) NetBurst (2000 , 180 to 130 nm) Skylake (2015, 14 nm) Alternative Names: i686 Series: Alternative Names: iAPX 386, 386, i386 Alternative Names: Pentium, 80586, 586, i586 Alternative Names: Pentium 4, Pentium IV, P4 Alternative Names: SKL (Desktop and Mobile), SKX (Server) Series: Pentium Pro (used in desktops and servers) • 16-bit data bus: 8086 (iAPX Series: Series: Series: Series: • Variant: Klamath (1997, 0.35 μm) 86) • Desktop/Server: i386DX Desktop/Server: P5, P54C • Desktop: Willamette (180 nm) • Desktop: Desktop 6th Generation Core i5 (Skylake-S and Skylake-H) • Alternative Names: Pentium II, PII • 8-bit data bus: 8088 (iAPX • Desktop lower-performance: i386SX Desktop/Server higher-performance: P54CQS, P54CS • Desktop higher-performance: Northwood Pentium 4 (130 nm), Northwood B Pentium 4 HT (130 nm), • Desktop higher-performance: Desktop 6th Generation Core i7 (Skylake-S and Skylake-H), Desktop 7th Generation Core i7 X (Skylake-X), • Series: Klamath (used in desktops) 88) • Mobile: i386SL, 80376, i386EX, Mobile: P54C, P54LM Northwood C Pentium 4 HT (130 nm), Gallatin (Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 130 nm) Desktop 7th Generation Core i9 X (Skylake-X), Desktop 9th Generation Core i7 X (Skylake-X), Desktop 9th Generation Core i9 X (Skylake-X) • Variant: Deschutes (1998, 0.25 to 0.18 μm) i386CXSA, i386SXSA, i386CXSB Compatibility: Pentium OverDrive • Desktop lower-performance: Willamette-128 -
Reverse Engineering X86 Processor Microcode
Reverse Engineering x86 Processor Microcode Philipp Koppe, Benjamin Kollenda, Marc Fyrbiak, Christian Kison, Robert Gawlik, Christof Paar, and Thorsten Holz, Ruhr-University Bochum https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity17/technical-sessions/presentation/koppe This paper is included in the Proceedings of the 26th USENIX Security Symposium August 16–18, 2017 • Vancouver, BC, Canada ISBN 978-1-931971-40-9 Open access to the Proceedings of the 26th USENIX Security Symposium is sponsored by USENIX Reverse Engineering x86 Processor Microcode Philipp Koppe, Benjamin Kollenda, Marc Fyrbiak, Christian Kison, Robert Gawlik, Christof Paar, and Thorsten Holz Ruhr-Universitat¨ Bochum Abstract hardware modifications [48]. Dedicated hardware units to counter bugs are imperfect [36, 49] and involve non- Microcode is an abstraction layer on top of the phys- negligible hardware costs [8]. The infamous Pentium fdiv ical components of a CPU and present in most general- bug [62] illustrated a clear economic need for field up- purpose CPUs today. In addition to facilitate complex and dates after deployment in order to turn off defective parts vast instruction sets, it also provides an update mechanism and patch erroneous behavior. Note that the implementa- that allows CPUs to be patched in-place without requiring tion of a modern processor involves millions of lines of any special hardware. While it is well-known that CPUs HDL code [55] and verification of functional correctness are regularly updated with this mechanism, very little is for such processors is still an unsolved problem [4, 29]. known about its inner workings given that microcode and the update mechanism are proprietary and have not been Since the 1970s, x86 processor manufacturers have throughly analyzed yet. -
M39 Sandy Bridge-PDF
SANDY BRIDGE SPANS GENERATIONS Intel Focuses on Graphics, Multimedia in New Processor Design By Linley Gwennap {9/27/10-01} ................................................................................................................... Intel’s processor clock has tocked, delivering a next- periods. For notebook computers, these improvements can generation architecture for PCs and servers. At the recent significantly extend battery life by completing tasks more Intel Developer’s Forum (IDF), the company unveiled its quickly and allowing the system to revert to a sleep state. Sandy Bridge processor architecture, the next tock in its tick-tock roadmap. The new CPU is an evolutionary im- Integration Boosts Graphics Performance provement over its predecessor, Nehalem, tweaking the Intel had a false start with integrated graphics: the ill-fated branch predictor, register renaming, and instruction de- Timna project, which was canceled in 2000. More recently, coding. These changes will slightly improve performance Nehalem-class processors known as Arrandale and Clark- on traditional integer applications, but we may be reaching dale “integrated” graphics into the processor, but these the point where the CPU microarchitecture is so efficient, products actually used two chips in one package, as Figure few ways remain to improve performance. 1 shows. By contrast, Sandy Bridge includes the GPU on The big changes in Sandy Bridge target multimedia the processor chip, providing several benefits. The GPU is applications such as 3D graphics, image processing, and now built in the same leading-edge manufacturing process video processing. The chip is Intel’s first to integrate the as the CPU, rather than an older process, as in earlier graphics processing unit (GPU) on the processor itself. -
Memory Hierarchy
Carnegie Mellon Introduction to Cloud Computing Systems I 15‐319, spring 2010 4th Lecture, Jan 26th Majd F. Sakr 15-319 Introduction to Cloud Computing Spring 2010 © Carnegie Mellon Lecture Motivation Overview of a Cloud architecture Systems review . ISA . Memory hierarchy . OS . Networks Next time . Impact on cloud performance 15-319 Introduction to Cloud Computing 2 Spring 2010 © Carnegie Mellon Intel Open Cirrus Cloud ‐ Pittsburgh 15-319 Introduction to Cloud Computing Spring 2010 © Carnegie Mellon Blade Performance Consider bandwidth and latency between these layers Quad Core Processor Disk core core core core L1 L2 Quad Core Processor L3 core core core core L1 Memory L2 15-319 Introduction to Cloud Computing Spring 2010 © Carnegie Mellon Cloud Performance Consider bandwidth and latency of all layers 15-319 Introduction to Cloud Computing Spring 2010 © Carnegie Mellon How could these different bandwidths impact the Cloud’s performance? To understand this, we need to go through a summary of the machine’s components? 15-319 Introduction to Cloud Computing Spring 2010 © Carnegie Mellon Single CPU Machine’s Component . ISA (Processor) . Main Memory . Disk . Operating System . Network 15-319 Introduction to Cloud Computing Spring 2010 © Carnegie Mellon A Single‐CPU Computer Components Datapath Control Register PC File Main IR I/O Bridge Memory Control ALU Unit CPU I/O Bus Disk Network 15-319 Introduction to Cloud Computing Spring 2010 © Carnegie Mellon The Von Neuman machine ‐ Completed 1952 Main memory storing programs and data -
Introduction to Cpu
microprocessors and microcontrollers - sadri 1 INTRODUCTION TO CPU Mohammad Sadegh Sadri Session 2 Microprocessor Course Isfahan University of Technology Sep., Oct., 2010 microprocessors and microcontrollers - sadri 2 Agenda • Review of the first session • A tour of silicon world! • Basic definition of CPU • Von Neumann Architecture • Example: Basic ARM7 Architecture • A brief detailed explanation of ARM7 Architecture • Hardvard Architecture • Example: TMS320C25 DSP microprocessors and microcontrollers - sadri 3 Agenda (2) • History of CPUs • 4004 • TMS1000 • 8080 • Z80 • Am2901 • 8051 • PIC16 microprocessors and microcontrollers - sadri 4 Von Neumann Architecture • Same Memory • Program • Data • Single Bus microprocessors and microcontrollers - sadri 5 Sample : ARM7T CPU microprocessors and microcontrollers - sadri 6 Harvard Architecture • Separate memories for program and data microprocessors and microcontrollers - sadri 7 TMS320C25 DSP microprocessors and microcontrollers - sadri 8 Silicon Market Revenue Rank Rank Country of 2009/2008 Company (million Market share 2009 2008 origin changes $ USD) Intel 11 USA 32 410 -4.0% 14.1% Corporation Samsung 22 South Korea 17 496 +3.5% 7.6% Electronics Toshiba 33Semiconduc Japan 10 319 -6.9% 4.5% tors Texas 44 USA 9 617 -12.6% 4.2% Instruments STMicroelec 55 FranceItaly 8 510 -17.6% 3.7% tronics 68Qualcomm USA 6 409 -1.1% 2.8% 79Hynix South Korea 6 246 +3.7% 2.7% 812AMD USA 5 207 -4.6% 2.3% Renesas 96 Japan 5 153 -26.6% 2.2% Technology 10 7 Sony Japan 4 468 -35.7% 1.9% microprocessors and microcontrollers -
Introduction to Microcoded Implementation of a CPU Architecture
Introduction to Microcoded Implementation of a CPU Architecture N.S. Matloff, revised by D. Franklin January 30, 1999, revised March 2004 1 Microcoding Throughout the years, Microcoding has changed dramatically. The debate over simple computers vs complex computers once raged within the architecture community. In the end, the most popular microcoded computers survived for three reasons - marketshare, technological improvements, and the embracing of the principles used in simple computers. So the two eventually merged into one. To truly understand microcoding, one must understand why they were built, what they are, why they survived, and, finally, what they look like today. 1.1 Motivation Strictly speaking, the term architecture for a CPU refers only to \what the assembly language programmer" sees|the instruction set, addressing modes, and register set. For a given target architecture, i.e. the architecture we wish to build, various implementations are possible. We could have many different internal designs of the CPU chip, all of which produced the same effect, namely the same instruction set, addressing modes, etc. The different internal designs could then all be produced for the different models of that CPU, as in the familiar Intel case. The different models would have different speed capabilities, and probably different prices to the consumer. But the same machine languge program, say a .EXE file in the Intel/DOS case, would run on any CPU in the family. When desigining an instruction set architecture, there is a tradeoff between software and hardware. If you provide very few instructions, it takes more instructions to perform the same task, but the hardware can be very simple.