Toward Practical 128-Bit General Purpose Microarchitectures

Abstract

Intel introduced 5-level paging mode to support 57-bit virtual address space in 2017. This, coupled to paradigms where backup storage can be accessed through load and store instructions (e.g., non volatile memories), lets us envision a future in which a 64-bit address space has become insufficient. In that event, the straightforward solution would be to adopt a flat 128-bit address space. In this early stage letter, we conduct high-level experiments that lead us to suggest a possible general-purpose processor micro-architecture providing 128-bit support with limited hardware cost.