HFT CORE SYSTEMS

Prefetching: hardware, software, and pointer chasing

Lesson 18 of 96Phase 02: CPU and memory systems
Video lesson coming soon

The written objectives and hands-on lab are available now.

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Learning objectives

What you should understand

  1. Know where hardware prefetchers succeed
  2. Choose software-prefetch distance empirically
  3. Explain why pointer chasing defeats regular prefetch

Lab

Hands-on exercise

Compare sequential, strided and pointer-chasing access with optional prefetch.

Deliverable

Evidence of completion

A prefetch-distance sweep and explanation of its useful range.

Prerequisite
EP 17

Phase 02

CPU and memory systems

Full curriculum