Abstract: A programmable processor that comprises a general purpose processor architecture, capable of operation independent of another host processor, having a virtual memory addressing unit, an instruction path and a data path; an external interface; a cache operable to retain data communicated between the external interface and the data path; at least one register file configurable to receive and store data from the data path and to communicate the stored data to the data path; and a multi-precision execution unit coupled to the data path. The multi-precision execution unit is configurable to dynamically partition data received from the data path to account for an elemental width of the data and is capable of performing group floating-point operations on multiple operands in partitioned fields of operand registers and returning catenated results. In other embodiments the multi-precision execution unit is additionally configurable to execute group integer and/or group data handling operations.

Abstract: A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying a data selection operand and a first and a second register providing a plurality of data elements, the data selection operand comprising a plurality of fields each selecting one of the plurality of data elements, the execution unit operable to provide the data element selected by each field of the data selection operand to a predetermined position in a catenated result.

Abstract: A system and software for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit configurable to execute a plurality of instruction streams from the plurality of threads, wherein each instruction stream includes a group instruction that operates on a plurality of data elements in partitioned fields of at least one of the registers to produce a catenated result.

Abstract: A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying both a mask and a register containing data, the mask comprising fields that each correspond to a field of the data contained in the register, the execution unit is operable to detect some of the fields of the mask as having a predetermined value and identifying corresponding fields of the data contained in the register as write-enabled data fields; and cause the write-enabled data fields to be written to a specified memory location.

Abstract: A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit configurable to execute a plurality of instruction streams from the plurality of threads, wherein each instruction stream includes a group instruction that operates on a plurality of data elements in partitioned fields of at least one of the registers to produce a catenated result.

Abstract: A programmable processor and system for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying three registers each containing a plurality of data elements, the execution unit operable to multiply the first and second registers and add the third register to produce a catenated result containing a plurality of data elements. Additional instructions provide group floating-point subtract, add, multiply, set less, and set greater equal operations. The set less and set greater equal operations produce alternatively zero or an identity element for each element of a catenated result, the result facilitating alternative selection of individual data elements using bitwise Boolean operations and without requiring conditional branch operations.

Abstract: A system and software for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying both a mask and a register containing data, the mask comprising fields that each correspond to a field of the data contained in the register, the execution unit is operable to detect some of the fields of the mask as having a predetermined value and identifying corresponding fields of the data contained in the register as write-enabled data fields; and cause the write-enabled data fields to be written to a specified memory location.

Abstract: A method and software for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying three registers each containing a plurality of data elements, the execution unit operable to multiply the first and second registers and add the third register to produce a catenated result containing a plurality of data elements. Additional instructions provide group floating-point subtract, add, multiply, set less, and set greater equal operations. The set less and set greater equal operations produce alternatively zero or an identity element for each element of a catenated result, the result facilitating alternative selection of individual data elements using bitwise Boolean operations and without requiring conditional branch operations.

Abstract: A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying a data selection operand and a first and a second register providing a plurality of data elements, the data selection operand comprising a plurality of fields each selecting one of the plurality of data elements, the execution unit operable to provide the data element selected by each field of the data selection operand to a predetermined position in a catenated result.

Abstract: A programmable processor that comprises a general purpose processor architecture, capable of operation independent of another host processor, having a virtual memory addressing unit, an instruction path and a data path; an external interface; a cache operable to retain data communicated between the external interface and the data path; at least one register file configurable to receive and store data from the data path and to communicate the stored data to the data path; and a multi-precision execution unit coupled to the data path. The multi-precision execution unit is configurable to dynamically partition data received from the data path to account for an elemental width of the data and is capable of performing group floating-point operations on multiple operands in partitioned fields of operand registers and returning catenated results. In other embodiments the multi-precision execution unit is additionally configurable to execute group integer and/or group data handling operations.

Abstract: A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions in an instruction set comprising (a) group instructions that operate on a plurality of data elements in partitioned fields of a register to produce a catenated result, (b) aligned memory operations that move data between memory and register where the memory operand is aligned, and (c) unaligned memory operations where the memory operand is unaligned.

Abstract: A system and software for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions in an instruction set comprising (a) group instructions that operate on a plurality of data elements in partitioned fields of a register to produce a catenated result, (b) aligned memory operations that move data between memory and register where the memory operand is aligned, and (c) unaligned memory operations where the memory operand is unaligned.

Abstract: A system and software for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying a data selection operand and a first and a second register providing a plurality of data elements, the data selection operand comprising a plurality of fields each selecting one of the plurality of data elements, the execution unit operable to provide the data element selected by each field of the data selection operand to a predetermined position in a catenated result.

Abstract: A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying both a shift amount and a register containing a plurality of data elements, wherein the execution unit is operable to shift a subfield of each of the plurality of data elements by the shift amount to produce a second plurality of data elements; and provide the second plurality of data elements as a catenated result.

Abstract: A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by incorporating an execution unit operable to decode and execute single instructions specifying both a shift amount and a register containing a plurality of data elements, wherein the execution unit is operable to shift a subfield of each of the plurality of data elements by the shift amount to produce a second plurality of data elements; and provide the second plurality of data elements as a catenated result.

Abstract: A programmable processor and method for improving the performance of processors by expanding at least two source operands, or a source and a result operand, to a width greater than the width of either the general purpose register or the data path width. The present invention provides operands which are substantially larger than the data path width of the processor by using the contents of a general purpose register to specify a memory address at which a plurality of data path widths of data can be read or written, as well as the size and shape of the operand. In addition, several instructions and apparatus for implementing these instructions are described which obtain performance advantages if the operands are not limited to the width and accessible number of general purpose registers.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for improving the performance of general purpose processors by expanding at least one source operand to a width greater than the width of either the general purpose register or the data path width. In addition, the present invention provides several classes of instructions which cannot be performed efficiently if the operands are limited to the width and accessible number of general purpose registers. The present invention provides operands which are substantially larger than the data path width of the processor by using a general purpose register to specify a memory address from which at least more than one, but typically several data path widths of data can be read. The present invention also provides for the efficient usage of a multiplier array that is fully used for high precision arithmetic, but is only partly used for other, lower precision operations.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for expanding at least one source operand to a width greater than the width of either the general purpose register or the data path width. Operands are provided which are substantially larger than the data path width of the processor. A general purpose register is used to specify a memory address from which at least more than one, but typically several data path widths of data can be read. The data path functional unit is augmented with dedicated storage to which the memory operand is copied on an initial execution of the instruction. Further execution of the instruction or other similar instructions that specify the same memory address can read the dedicated storage to obtain the operand value. However, such reads are subject to conditions to verify that the memory operand has not been altered by intervening instructions.

Abstract: A programmable processor that comprises a general purpose processor architecture, capable of operation independent of another host processor, having a virtual memory addressing unit, an instruction path and a data path; an external interface; a cache operable to retain data communicated between the external interface and the data path; at least one register file configurable to receive and store data from the data path and to communicate the stored data to the data path; and a multi-precision execution unit coupled to the data path. The multi-precision execution unit is configurable to dynamically partition data received from the data path to account for an elemental width of the data and is capable of performing group floating-point operations on multiple operands in partitioned fields of operand registers and returning catenated results. In other embodiments the multi-precision execution unit is additionally configurable to execute group integer and/or group data handling operations.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for improving the performance of general-purpose processors by implementing a functional unit that computes the product of a matrix operand with a vector operand, producing a vector result. The functional unit fully utilizes the entire resources of a 128b by 128b multiplier regardless of the operand size, as the number of elements of the matrix and vector operands increase as operand size is reduced. The unit performs both fixed-point and floating-point multiplications and additions with the highest-possible intermediate accuracy with modest resources.