Data reordering processor and method for use in an active memory device

A vector processing and re-ordering system for operating on selected non-contiguous pixel data, comprising:

• a vector register receiving data from a plurality of contiguous pixels including data from the selected non-contiguous pixels;
• a vector memory coupled to the vector register to select and store the selected non-contiguous pixel data from the vector register and to pass the selected non-contiguous pixel data stored in the vector memory to the vector register;
• and
• a vector processor coupled to the vector memory to receive the selected non-contiguous pixel data from the vector memory, the vector processor being operable to process the data to provide results data, and pass the results data to the vector memory.

A computer system, comprising:

• a host processor having a processor bus;
• at least one input device coupled to the host processor through the processor bus;
• at least one output device coupled to the host processor through the processor bus;
• at least one data storage device coupled to the host processor through the processor bus;
• and
• an active memory device, comprising:
• a memory device having a data bus containing a plurality of data bus bits;
• an array of processing elements each of which is coupled to a respective group of the data bus bits;
• an array control unit being operable to generate a sequence of array control unit instructions responsive to each of a plurality of array control unit commands applied to a command input of the array control unit;
• a memory device control unit coupled to the memory device, the memory device control unit being operable to generate and to couple respective sets of memory commands to the memory device responsive to each of a plurality of memory device control unit commands applied to a command input of the memory device control unit;
• and
• a vector processing and re-ordering system coupled to the array control unit and the memory device, the vector processing and re-ordering system being operable to receive data from the memory device that may be stored in the memory device in other than a contiguous manner, re-order received data into a vector of contiguous data, process the data in accordance with an instruction received from the array control unit to provide results data, and pass the results data to the memory device.

A method of storing and processing selected non-contiguous pixel data in an integrated circuit, the method comprising:

• storing data from a plurality of contiguous pixels including data from the selected non-contiguous pixels in an array of memory cells in the integrated circuit;
• in response to a memory command, reading data from the plurality of contiguous pixels from the memory cells in the integrated circuit;
• re-ordering the data read from the memory cells in the integrated circuit such that data from the selected non-contiguous pixels becomes contiguous, the re-ordering occurring in the integrated circuit;
• and
• processing the re-ordered data in the integrated circuit.