US Patent 7827393 Branch prediction apparatus, its method and processor

A branch prediction apparatus reads out a branch history table 15 by an index calculated by the output of a branch history register 14 containing a plurality of the latest branch result of a branch instruction. The branch prediction apparatus comprises frequency detection units 18-20 for detecting the appearance frequency of a branch instruction with a different address and data width modification units 16 and 21 for modifying the number of valid bits of the branch history register, based on the detected appearance frequency. Even a program in which a branch result strongly depends on the latest branch history or even a program having a plenty of branch instructions can maintain high prediction accuracy with a small capacity of the branch history table.