Efficient execution of memory access phases using dataflow specialization

This paper identifies a new opportunity for improving the efficiency of a processor core: memory access phases of programs. These are dynamic regions of programs where most of the instructions are devoted to memory access or address computation. These occur naturally in programs because of workload properties, or when employing an in-core accelerator, we get induced phases where the code execution on the core is access code. We observe such code requires an OOO core's dataflow and dynamism to run fast and does not execute well on an in-order processor. However, an OOO core consumes much power, effectively increasing energy consumption and reducing the energy efficiency of in-core accelerators.