Methods and apparatus for source operand collector caching

A computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor core implemented with a source operand collector cache coupled to at least one input of a data path residing within the processor core, cause the processor core to perform the steps of:

• decoding an instruction to determine a plurality of operands specified by the instruction;
• for each operand in the plurality of operands, determining that the operand is not stored in the source operand collector cache, loading the operand into the source operand collector cache from a local register file;
• and
• configuring the processor core to execute the instruction across the operands stored in the source operand collector cache.

A system comprising:

• a processor core including a data path for executing instructions;
• a source operand collector cache coupled to at least one input of the data path;
• a local register file coupled to the source operand collector cache;
• and
• a scheduling unit configured to:
• decode an instruction to determine a plurality of operands specified by the instruction,
• for each operand in the plurality of operands, determining that the operand is not stored in the source operand collector cache, load the operand into the source operand collector cache from the local register file, and
• configure the processor core to execute the instruction across the operands stored in the source operand collector cache.