Abstract: A processor having a unidirectional rotator configured to shift or rotate data in one direction is disclosed. The processor also includes a control unit having logic configured to modify a shift value specified by a registered-based shift, or rotate, instruction in an opposite direction, the modified shift value being usable by the rotator to shift, or rotate, the data in the one direction, and thereby, generate the same result as if the data in the rotator had otherwise been shifted, or rotated, in the opposite direction by the shift value originally specified by the registered-based instruction. The control unit is further configured to bypass the logic and provide to the rotator a shift value specified by a register-based instruction to shift, or rotate, the data in the one direction.

Abstract: In one or more embodiments, a processor includes one or more circuits to flush instructions from an instruction pipeline on a selective basis responsive to detecting a branch misprediction, such that those instructions marked as being dependent on the branch instruction associated with the branch misprediction are flushed. Thus, the one or more circuits may be configured to mark instructions fetched into the processor's instruction pipeline(s) to indicate their branch prediction dependencies, directly or indirectly detect incorrect branch predictions, and directly or indirectly flush instructions in the instruction pipeline(s) that are marked as being dependent on an incorrect branch prediction.