Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In a computer instruction set architecture (ISA), an execute instruction is a machine language instruction which treats data as a machine instruction and executes it. It can be considered a fourth mode of instruction sequencing after ordinary sequential execution , branching , and interrupting . [ 1 ]
[a] Branch (or branching, branched) may also refer to the act of switching execution to a different instruction sequence as a result of executing a branch instruction. Branch instructions are used to implement control flow in program loops and conditionals (i.e., executing a particular sequence of instructions only if certain conditions are ...
branching to an address made up of the base address of the branch table plus the just generated offset. This sometimes involves an addition of the offset onto the program counter register (unless, in some instruction sets, the branch instruction allows an extra index register). This final address usually points to one of a sequence of ...
Architectural state [1] is the collection of information in a computer system that defines the state of a program during execution. Architectural state includes main memory, architectural registers, and the program counter. Architectural state is defined by the instruction set architecture and
Execution in computer and software engineering is the process by which a computer or virtual machine interprets and acts on the instructions of a computer program.Each instruction of a program is a description of a particular action which must be carried out, in order for a specific problem to be solved.
Branch prediction attempts to guess whether a conditional jump will be taken or not. Branch target prediction attempts to guess the target of a taken conditional or unconditional jump before it is computed by decoding and executing the instruction itself. Branch prediction and branch target prediction are often combined into the same circuitry.
An indirect branch (also known as a computed jump, indirect jump and register-indirect jump) is a type of program control instruction present in some machine language instruction sets. Rather than specifying the address of the next instruction to execute , as in a direct branch , the argument specifies where the address is located.
Machine instructions created in earlier microprocessors were retained throughout microprocessor upgrades. This enabled consumers to purchase new computers without having to purchase new application software. The major categories of instructions are: [c] Memory instructions to set and access numbers and strings in random-access memory.