APPARATUS AND METHOD OF SINGLE-INSTRUCTION, MULTIPLE-DATA VECTOR OPERATION MASKING
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a vector unit, one or more source vectors, and a vector operation mask, wherein each of the one or more source vectors comprises a plurality of N elements, and wherein the vector operation mask comprises a corresponding selection indicator for each of the plurality of N elements;
wherein the vector unit is configured to perform an operation on the one or more source vectors; and
wherein the vector operation mask identifies which of a subset of the plurality of N elements of each of the one or more source vectors are used in the operation to produce a desired result.
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Abstract
An apparatus, method, and medium for performing a vector operation on portions of one or more source vector registers. A vector unit performs an operation on the source vector registers and only stores results in the target vector register for elements which are selected by the vector operation mask. The vector operation mask can be read by the vector unit or loaded into the vector unit for each instruction cycle. The vector operation mask allows the vector unit to be used with partially filled source vector registers and eliminates the need for scalar operations to be performed on vector data.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a vector unit, one or more source vectors, and a vector operation mask, wherein each of the one or more source vectors comprises a plurality of N elements, and wherein the vector operation mask comprises a corresponding selection indicator for each of the plurality of N elements; wherein the vector unit is configured to perform an operation on the one or more source vectors; and wherein the vector operation mask identifies which of a subset of the plurality of N elements of each of the one or more source vectors are used in the operation to produce a desired result. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for executing a vector operation, the method comprising:
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initiating a vector operation; accessing one or more source vectors, wherein each of the one or more source vectors comprises a plurality of N elements; accessing a vector operation mask, wherein the vector operation mask comprises a corresponding selection indicator for each of the plurality of N elements of the one or more source vectors; utilizing the vector operation mask to identify which of a subset of the plurality of N elements of the one or more source vectors are used to produce a desired result; and generating and conveying a result of the vector operation. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions to execute a vector operation, wherein when executed the program instructions are operable to:
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initiate a vector operation; access one or more source vectors, wherein each of the one or more source vectors comprises a plurality of N elements; access a vector operation mask, wherein the vector operation mask comprises a corresponding selection indicator for each of the plurality of N elements of the one or more source vectors; utilize the vector operation mask to identify which of a subset of the plurality of N elements of the one or more source vectors are used to produce a desired result; and generate and convey a result of the vector operation. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification