80386 Early Start Memory Access

▤ Summary

This article explains how the z386 FPGA x86 core implements the 80386 early-start memory access feature and why it improves performance. It details how the design overlaps address generation, forwarding, and memory access to reduce latency and match the original 386 behavior. It also covers additional CPU-core optimizations such as a tighter store queue, faster branch redirect, a wider frontend, and cache redesign. The post closes by comparing z386 with ao486 and notes that the project still needs bug fixes and compatibility work.

▦ Linked Companies

Intel Corporation

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