Chapter 6 - Serialization and Stall Model

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Chapter 6 - Serialization and Stall Model

6.1 Purpose of This Chapter

 

This chapter defines how the AlphaCPU emulator enforces ordering, visibility, and completion in an otherwise weakly ordered execution model.

 

Alpha AXP does not guarantee memory ordering by default. Instead, ordering is established explicitly through serialization instructions. This chapter explains:

Why serialization exists

What is serialized (and what is not)

How barriers interact with the pipeline

How barriers stall and later release execution

How this applies to SMP systems

 

This chapter is foundational to correctness in:

SMP synchronization

Atomic operations

Device I/O

Exception precision

PAL mode transitions