| US 7,594,131 B2 | ||
| Processing apparatus | ||
| Shinji Ozaki, Suita (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Panasonic Corporation, Osaka (Japan) | ||
| Filed on Aug. 10, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/200,193. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 2004-239397 (JP), filed on Aug. 19, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0064679 A1, Mar. 23, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. G06F 1/32 (2006.01); G06F 1/26 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 713—320 [713/300; 713/324; 711/1; 712/1] | 18 Claims |

| 1. A processing apparatus which executes a program and performs processes of the program, said processing apparatus, comprising,
an execution circuit having a plurality of operation modes, each having a different effect on processing performance and power
consumption of said processing apparatus;
a measurer that measures a process execution performance of said processing apparatus; and
a controller that compares a target value with a measurement result from said measurer, and that switches the plurality of
operation modes in accordance with a result of the comparison,
wherein said execution circuit includes:
a plurality of instruction execution pipelines, each of the plurality of instruction execution pipelines executing an instruction;
and
an instruction issuer that simultaneously issues a plurality of instructions to said plurality of instruction execution pipelines,
wherein said measurer measures the process execution performance, based on a number of instructions processed by said plurality
of instruction execution pipelines per predetermined period of time,
wherein said instruction issuer operates in said plurality of operation modes, each having a different maximum allowable number
for said number of instructions that are allowed to be simultaneously issued to said plurality of instruction execution pipelines,
wherein said measurer measures said number of instructions as the process execution performance of said processing apparatus,
and
wherein said controller switches a current operation mode of said instruction issuer to an operation mode having a lower maximum
allowable number when the process execution performance measured by said measurer exceeds the target value, and switches to
an operation mode having a higher maximum allowable number when the process execution performance measured by said measurer
is below the target value.
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