Document TT code more

src/tt.cpp

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "tt.h"
 
 #include <cassert>
+#include <cstdint>
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <iostream>
@@ -53,6 +54,18 @@ void TTEntry::save(
 }
 
 
+uint8_t TTEntry::relative_age(const uint8_t generation8) const {
+    // Due to our packed storage format for generation and its cyclic
+    // nature we add GENERATION_CYCLE (256 is the modulus, plus what
+    // is needed to keep the unrelated lowest n bits from affecting
+    // the result) to calculate the entry age correctly even after
+    // generation8 overflows into the next cycle.
+
+    return (TranspositionTable::GENERATION_CYCLE + generation8 - genBound8)
+         & TranspositionTable::GENERATION_MASK;
+}
+
+
 // Sets the size of the transposition table,
 // measured in megabytes. Transposition table consists of a power of 2 number
 // of clusters and each cluster consists of ClusterSize number of TTEntry.
@@ -111,24 +124,18 @@ TTEntry* TranspositionTable::probe(const Key key, bool& found) const {
     for (int i = 0; i < ClusterSize; ++i)
         if (tte[i].key16 == key16 || !tte[i].depth8)
         {
-            tte[i].genBound8 =
-              uint8_t(generation8 | (tte[i].genBound8 & (GENERATION_DELTA - 1)));  // Refresh
+            constexpr uint8_t lowerBits = GENERATION_DELTA - 1;
 
-            return found = bool(tte[i].depth8), &tte[i];
+            // Refresh with new generation, keeping the lower bits the same.
+            tte[i].genBound8 = uint8_t(generation8 | (tte[i].genBound8 & lowerBits));
+            return found     = bool(tte[i].depth8), &tte[i];
         }
 
     // Find an entry to be replaced according to the replacement strategy
     TTEntry* replace = tte;
     for (int i = 1; i < ClusterSize; ++i)
-        // Due to our packed storage format for generation and its cyclic
-        // nature we add GENERATION_CYCLE (256 is the modulus, plus what
-        // is needed to keep the unrelated lowest n bits from affecting
-        // the result) to calculate the entry age correctly even after
-        // generation8 overflows into the next cycle.
-        if (replace->depth8
-              - ((GENERATION_CYCLE + generation8 - replace->genBound8) & GENERATION_MASK)
-            > tte[i].depth8
-                - ((GENERATION_CYCLE + generation8 - tte[i].genBound8) & GENERATION_MASK))
+        if (replace->depth8 - replace->relative_age(generation8)
+            > tte[i].depth8 - tte[i].relative_age(generation8))
             replace = &tte[i];
 
     return found = false, replace;
@@ -137,7 +144,7 @@ TTEntry* TranspositionTable::probe(const Key key, bool& found) const {
 
 // Returns an approximation of the hashtable
 // occupation during a search. The hash is x permill full, as per UCI protocol.
-
+// Only counts entries which match the current generation.
 int TranspositionTable::hashfull() const {
 
     int cnt = 0;

src/tt.h

@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ struct TTEntry {
     bool  is_pv() const { return bool(genBound8 & 0x4); }
     Bound bound() const { return Bound(genBound8 & 0x3); }
     void  save(Key k, Value v, bool pv, Bound b, Depth d, Move m, Value ev, uint8_t generation8);
+    // The returned age is a multiple of TranspositionTable::GENERATION_DELTA
+    uint8_t relative_age(const uint8_t generation8) const;
 
    private:
     friend class TranspositionTable;
@@ -76,16 +78,25 @@ class TranspositionTable {
     static_assert(sizeof(Cluster) == 32, "Unexpected Cluster size");
 
     // Constants used to refresh the hash table periodically
-    static constexpr unsigned GENERATION_BITS = 3;  // nb of bits reserved for other things
-    static constexpr int      GENERATION_DELTA =
-      (1 << GENERATION_BITS);  // increment for generation field
-    static constexpr int GENERATION_CYCLE = 255 + (1 << GENERATION_BITS);  // cycle length
-    static constexpr int GENERATION_MASK =
-      (0xFF << GENERATION_BITS) & 0xFF;  // mask to pull out generation number
+
+    // We have 8 bits available where the lowest 3 bits are
+    // reserved for other things.
+    static constexpr unsigned GENERATION_BITS = 3;
+    // increment for generation field
+    static constexpr int GENERATION_DELTA = (1 << GENERATION_BITS);
+    // cycle length
+    static constexpr int GENERATION_CYCLE = 255 + GENERATION_DELTA;
+    // mask to pull out generation number
+    static constexpr int GENERATION_MASK = (0xFF << GENERATION_BITS) & 0xFF;
 
    public:
     ~TranspositionTable() { aligned_large_pages_free(table); }
-    void new_search() { generation8 += GENERATION_DELTA; }  // Lower bits are used for other things
+
+    void new_search() {
+        // increment by delta to keep lower bits as is
+        generation8 += GENERATION_DELTA;
+    }
+
     TTEntry* probe(const Key key, bool& found) const;
     int      hashfull() const;
     void     resize(size_t mbSize, int threadCount);