Techniques for thread-based register file access by a multithreaded processor
are disclosed. The multithreaded processor determines a thread identifier associated
with a particular processor thread, and utilizes at least a portion of the thread
identifier to select a particular portion of an associated register file to be
accessed by the corresponding processor thread. In an illustrative embodiment,
the register file is divided into even and odd portions, with a least significant
bit or other portion of the thread identifier being used to select either the even
or the odd portion for use by a given processor thread. The thread-based register
file selection may be utilized in conjunction with token triggered threading and
instruction pipelining. Advantageously, the invention reduces register file port
requirements and thus processor power consumption, while maintaining desired levels
of concurrency.
