Processor having vector processing capability and method for executing a vector instruction in a processor
US6324638A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 31, 1999 |
| Grant date | Nov 27, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 31, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2207/3828
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A processor capable of executing vector instructions includes at least an instruction sequencing unit and a vector processing unit that receives vector instructions to be executed from the instruction sequencing unit. The vector processing unit includes a plurality of multiply structures, each containing only a single multiply array, that each correspond to at least one element of a vector input operand. Utilizing the single multiply array, each of the plurality of multiply structures is capable of performing a multiplication operation on one element of a vector input operand and is also capable of performing a multiplication operation on multiple elements of a vector input operand concurrently. In an embodiment in which the maximum length of an element of a vector input operand is N bits, each of the plurality of multiply arrays can handle both N by N bit integer multiplication and M by M bit integer multiplication, where N is a non-unitary integer multiple of M. At least one of the multiply structures also preferably includes an accumulating adder that receives as a first input a result produced by that multiply structure and receives as a second input a result produced by anothe…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.