Conditional branch prediction allows the speculative fetching and execution of instructions before knowing the direction of conditional statements. As in other areas, machine learning techniques are a promising approach to building branch predictors, e.g., the Perceptron predictor. However, those traditional solutions demand large input sizes, which impose a considerable area overhead. We propose a conditional branch predictor based on the WiSARD (Wilkie, Stoneham, and Aleksander’s Recognition Device) weightless neural network model. The WiSARD-based predictor implements one-shot online training designed to address branch prediction as a binary classification problem. We compare the WiSARD-based predictor with two state-of-the-art predictors: TAGESC- L (TAgged GEometric-Statistical Corrector-Loop) and the Multiperspective Perceptron. Our experimental evaluation shows that our proposed predictor, with a smaller input size, outperforms the perceptron-based predictor by about 0.09% and achieves similar accuracy to that of TAGE-SC-L. In addition, we perform an experimental sensitivity analysis to find the best predictor for each dataset, and based on these results, we designed new specialized predictors using a particular parameter composition for each dataset. The results show that the specialized WiSARD-based predictor outperforms the state-of-the-art by more than 2.3% in the best case. Furthermore, through the implementation of specialized predictor classifiers, we discovered that utilizing 90% of the specialized predictor for a specific dataset yielded comparable performance to the corresponding specialized predictor.

CAPES, Brazil and CNPq, Brazil f, FCT

Weightless neural network,WiSARD,Branch prediction,Binary classification

• Computer and Information Sciences - Natural Sciences
• Basic Medicine - Medical and Health Sciences

This publication is an output of the following project(s):

• Alternative Shaper
• Impact of Blockchains and Decentralised Ledger Technologies