Hardware apparatus and methods for converting encoding formats

A hardware processor comprising:

• a decode circuit to decode an instruction comprising a state operand, a source vector operand, a destination vector operand, and a control operand;
• and
• an execution circuit to execute the instruction to:
• convert elements from the source vector operand in a first encoding format to a second encoding format,
• store the elements in the second encoding format in the destination vector operand,
• store a total length of the elements in the second encoding format in the state operand, and
• set a stream completion indication in the control operand when the elements from the source vector operand are a last elements in a data stream.

A method comprising:

• decoding an instruction comprising a state operand, a source vector operand, a destination vector operand, and a control operand;
• and
• executing the instruction to:
• convert elements from the source vector operand in a first encoding format to a second encoding format,
• store the elements in the second encoding format in the destination vector operand,
• store a total length of the elements in the second encoding format in the state operand, and
• set a stream completion indication in the control operand when the elements from the source vector operand are a last elements in a data stream.

A non-transitory machine readable medium that stores code that when executed by a machine causes the machine to perform a method comprising:

• decoding an instruction comprising a state operand, a source vector operand, a destination vector operand, and a control operand;
• and
• executing the instruction to:
• convert elements from the source vector operand in a first encoding format to a second encoding format,
• store the elements in the second encoding format in the destination vector operand,
• store a total length of the elements in the second encoding format in the state operand, and
• set a stream completion indication in the control operand when the elements from the source vector operand are a last elements in a data stream.