Parallel operations on multiple signed elements in a register
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorJoan Mitchell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides methods, apparatus, and article of manufacture for performing parallel operations on multiple signed elements which have been packed into a binary value, each element being associated with a different set of bits. A signs binary value is obtained which contains the sign bits for each element in the register. The signs binary value is then used to remove and/or restore sign bits to each element in single operations. This enables parallel operations to be performed efficiently on multiple signed elements loaded into a register, without incurring loss of data.
Claims31
A method comprising:
- loading a register binary value with a plurality of elements each element being associated with a different set of bits of the register binary value, at least one element containing a negative value;
- obtaining a signs binary value from the register binary value, the bits in the bit positions of the signs binary value which correspond to the bit positions of the elements in the register binary value only being set in bit positions which correspond to set sign bits of the elements;
- and
- performing at least one operation using the signs and register binary values to produce a final binary value which comprises information from which each element can be fully reconstructed.
A data processing apparatus comprising:
- a loader for loading a register binary value with a plurality of elements each element being associated with a different set of bits of the register binary value, at least one element containing a negative value;
- an obtainer for obtaining a signs binary value from the register binary value, the bits in the bit positions of the signs binary value which correspond to the bit positions of the elements in the register binary value only being set in bit positions which correspond to set sign bits of the elements;
- and
- a performer for performing at least one operation using the signs and register binary values to produce a final binary value which comprises information from which each element can be fully reconstructed.
An article of manufacture comprising a program storage medium readable by a computer, the medium tangibly embodying one or more programs of instructions executable by a computer to perform a method comprising:
- loading a register binary value with a plurality of elements each element being associated with a different set of bits of the register binary value, at least one element containing a negative value;
- obtaining a signs binary value from the register binary value, the bits in the bit positions of the signs binary value which correspond to the bit positions of the elements in the register binary value only being set in bit positions which correspond to set sign bits of the elements;
- and
- performing at least one operation using the signs and register binary values to produce a final binary value which comprises information from which each element can be fully reconstructed.
A method comprising:
- producing computer executable program code;
- providing the program code to be deployed to and executed on a computer system;
- the program code comprising instructions for:
- loading a register binary value with a plurality of elements each element being associated with a different set of bits of the register binary value, at least one element containing a negative value;
- obtaining a signs binary value from the register binary value, the bits in the bit positions of the signs binary value which correspond to the bit positions of the elements in the register binary value only being set in bit positions which correspond to set sign bits of the elements;
- and
- performing at least one operation using the signs and register binary values to produce a final binary value which comprises information from which each element can be fully reconstructed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.