Functional unit usage based thread selection in a simultaneous multithreaded processor

This paper proposes and evaluates a new mechanism for thread selection in simultaneous multithreaded processors that is based on functional unit(FU) usage information. The performance of any processor depends on the set of dependences that it can manage. In a multithreaded architecture there is an opportunity to manage structural dependences more effectively than in conventional superscalar processors. Minimizing the competition for FUs will greatly improve the performance of multithreaded processors. This can be achieved by means of proper thread selection techniques. In this paper, a framework that aids thread selection based on FU usage information, is discussed. The results show that this thread selection mechanism can improve performance significantly.