MAC processing pipelines, circuitry to control and configure same, and methods of operating same

An integrated circuit comprising:

• a plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits organized into a plurality of groups, wherein each group of multiplier-accumulator circuits includes a plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits that is connected in series to perform a plurality of multiply and accumulate operations, wherein each multiplier-accumulator circuit of the plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits of each group includes:
• a multiplier to multiply data by a multiplier weight data and generate a product data, and
• an accumulator, coupled to the multiplier of the associated multiplier-accumulator circuit, to add input data and the product data of the associated multiplier to generate sum data;
• a plurality of control/configure circuits, wherein each control/configure circuit connects directly to and is associated with one of the groups of multiplier-accumulator circuits, wherein each control/configure circuit includes:
• a plurality of data paths wherein each data path includes:
• a first end that directly connects to an input of a first multiplier-accumulator circuit of the plurality of serially connected multiplier-accumulator circuits of the associated group of multiplier-accumulator circuits,
• a second end that directly connects to an output of a last multiplier-accumulator circuit of the plurality of serially connected multiplier-accumulator circuits of the associated group of multiplier-accumulator circuits, wherein the first end of the data path couples to the second end of the data path through the plurality of serially connected multiplier-accumulator circuits of the associated group of the plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits,
• a third end that is configurable to connect to an end of a corresponding data path of a different one of the plurality of control/configure circuits, and
• a fourth end;
• wherein the plurality of data paths of each control/configure circuit includes:
• a first data path to input accumulation values to and output accumulation values from each group of the plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits during an execution sequence.

An integrated circuit comprising:

• a plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits organized into a plurality of groups, wherein each group of multiplier-accumulator circuits includes a plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits that is connected in series to perform a plurality of multiply and accumulate operations, wherein each multiplier-accumulator circuit of the plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits of each group includes:
• a multiplier to multiply data by a multiplier weight data and generate a product data, and
• an accumulator, coupled to the multiplier of the associated multiplier-accumulator circuit, to add input data and the product data of the associated multiplier to generate sum data;
• a plurality of control/configure circuits, wherein each control/configure circuit connects directly to and is associated with one of the groups of multiplier-accumulator circuits, wherein each control/configure circuit includes:
• a plurality of data paths wherein each data path includes:
• a first end that directly connects to an input of a first multiplier-accumulator circuit of the plurality of serially connected multiplier-accumulator circuits of the associated group of multiplier-accumulator circuits,
• a second end that directly connects to an output of a last multiplier-accumulator circuit of the plurality of serially connected multiplier-accumulator circuits of the associated group of multiplier-accumulator circuits, wherein the first end of the data path couples to the second end of the data path through the plurality of serially connected multiplier-accumulator circuits of the associated group of the plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits,
• a third end that is configurable to connect to an end of a corresponding data path of a different one of the plurality of control/configure circuits, and
• a fourth end;
• wherein the plurality of data paths of each control/configure circuit includes:
• a first data path to output data from each multiplier-accumulator circuit of the plurality of serially connected multiplier-accumulator circuits of each group of the plurality of multiplier-accumulator circuits.