METHOD FOR UPDATING A BRANCH HISTORY TABLE IN A PROCESSOR WHICH RESOLVES MULTIPLE BRANCHES IN A SINGLE CYCLE

A method and apparatus for updating a branch history table (BHT) in a processor which resolves multiple branches in a single cycle is disclosed. The method and apparatus utilizes a single write ported BHT that achieves similar performance to a two write ported BHT by selecting only data corresponding to one of the branch instructions for updating the BHT. The data corresponding to the branch instruction for updating the BHT is selected based upon whether a prediction of the instruction path set by the branch instruction was correctly predicted and the state of a corresponding saturation up-down counter in the BHT.