Multiplying unit in a computer system, capable of population counting

A multiplying unit provided in a computer system, to perform multiplication of multiplicand data and multiplier data in a multiplication mode and to perform population counting of population counting input data in a population counting mode, said multiplying unit comprising:

• means for dividing the multiplicand data into a plurality of multiplicand elements having a first size in the multiplicand mode;
• dividing means for dividing the multiplier data into a plurality of multiplier elements having a second size in the multiplication mode, and for dividing the population counting input data into a plurality of population counting elements of the second size in the population counting mode;
• a plurality of multiplying sub-units for executing simultaneously partial multiplication among the multiplicand elements and the multiplier elements when in the multiplication mode to produce partial product data, and for executing simultaneously partial population countings for the population counting elements when in the population counting mode to produce partial counted data;
• and
• means for adding the partial product data from said multiplying sub-units and outputting a multiplication result of the multiplicand data and the multiplier data when in the multiplication mode, and for adding the partial counted data from said multiplying sub-units and outputting a population counting result of the population counting input data when in the population counting mode.