Pipelining: Challenges and Solutions

Conditional branch statements introduce hazards by altering the normal flow of instructions based on specific conditions.

If the CPU does not know which branch to follow, it may fetch instructions that are later discarded, causing pipeline delays.

This uncertainty can lead to wasted processing cycles and reduced efficiency.

One solution is branch prediction, where the CPU predicts the branch it will likely need to take and fetches those instructions in advance.

If the prediction is correct, execution continues smoothly; if incorrect, rollback mechanisms are used to correct the pipeline and fetch the right instructions.