Better branch prediction through prophet/critic hybrids

The prophet/critic hybrid conditional branch predictor has two component predictors. The prophet uses a branch´s history to predict its direction. We call this prediction and the ones for branches following it the branch future. The critic uses the branch´s history and future to critique the prophet´s prediction. The hybrid combines the prophet´s prediction with the critique, either agrees or disagree, forming the branch´s overall prediction. Results shows these hybrids can reduce mispredicts by 39 percent and improve processor performance by 7.8 percent.