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| | BAFL |
 | | For example, by representing micro-execution events and dependences as a suitable dependence graph, its critical path automatically determines which processor stage (e.g., fetch, execute, or commit) is a bottleneck, and also for which dynamic instructions. |
 | | Finally, observing that past criticality of an instruction correlates with its future criticality, we turned the critical-path analyzer into a criticality predictor, thus facilitating the design of first truly cost-aware processor policies. |
 | | To exploit it, we developed a hardware slack analyzer (thanks to a reduction trick, as simple the criticality analyzer) and used it to systematically devise a control policy for a power-friendly processor in which one half is clocked at half the frequency. |
| www.cs.berkeley.edu /~bfields/bafl (912 words) |
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