Data-Processing Unit for Nested-Loop Instructions

A data-processing unit, comprising:

• fetching circuitry arranged to fetch an instruction, wherein the instruction is a nested-loop instruction of an instruction set of the data-processing unit;
• and
• execution circuitry arranged to execute the nested-loop instruction;
• wherein the nested-loop instruction comprises at least one instruction field adapted to indicate a number of iterations of an outer loop of the nested loop, a number of iterations of an inner loop of the nested loop, one or more operations to be performed by the outer loop, and one or more operations to be performed by the inner loop.

A method of performing a first instruction for use in a data-processing unit, wherein the first instruction is a nested-loop instruction, the method comprising:

• fetching the first instruction from a memory;
• decoding the first instruction to identify an instruction type, a number of iterations of an outer loop of the nested loop, and a number of iterations of an inner loop of the nested loop, and to identify one or more operations to be performed by the outer loop and one or more operations to be performed by the inner loop;
• forwarding the first instruction to a first execution unit of the data-processing unit;
• and
• executing the first instruction in the first execution unit.