Method and apparatus for shuffling data

Abstract

Method, apparatus, and program means for shuffling data. The method of one embodiment comprises receiving a first operand having a set of L data elements and a second operand having a set of L control elements. For each control element, data from a first operand data element designated by the individual control element is shuffled to an associated resultant data element position if its flush to zero field is not set and a zero is placed into the associated resultant data element position if its flush to zero field is not set.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method comprising: 
 receiving a first operand having a set of L data elements and a second operand having a set of L control elements; and    for each control element, shuffling data from a first operand data element designated by said control element to an associated resultant data element position if its flush to zero field is not set and placing a zero into said associated resultant data element position if its flush to zero field is not set.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each of said L control elements occupies a particular position in said second operand and is associated with a similarly located data element position in a resultant.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein each of said L data elements occupies a particular position in said first operand.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein said control element is to designate a first operand data element by a data element position number.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein each of said control elements is comprised of: 
 a flush to zero field, said flush to zero field to indicate whether a data element position associated with this control element is to be filled with a zero value; and  
 a selection field, said selection field to indicate which first operand data element to shuffle data from.  
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein each of said control elements is further comprised of a source select field.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising outputting a resultant data block comprising data that was shuffled from said first operand in response to said control elements of said second operand.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each of said data elements comprises a byte of data.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein each of said control elements is a byte wide.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein L is 8 and wherein said first operand, said second operand, and said resultant are each comprised of 64-bit wide packed data.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein L is 16 and wherein said first operand, said second operand, and said resultant are each comprised of 128-bit wide packed data.  
     
     
         12 . An apparatus comprising: 
 an execution unit to execute a shuffle instruction including a first operand comprised of a set of L data elements and a second operand comprised of a set of L control elements, said shuffle instruction to cause said execution unit to: 
 for each individual control element, determine whether its flush to zero field is set, and place a zero into an associated resultant data element position if true, otherwise shuffle data from a first operand data element designated by said individual control element to said associated resultant data element position.  
   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein each of said L control elements occupies a position in said second operand and is associated with a similarly located data element position in a resultant.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein each individual control element is to designate a first operand data element by a data element position number.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein each of said control elements is comprised of: 
 a flush to zero field, said flush to zero field to indicate whether a data element position associated with this control element is to be filled with a zero value; and  
 a selection field, said selection field to indicate which first operand data element to shuffle data from.  
 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15  wherein each of said control elements is further comprised of a source select field.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16  wherein said shuffle instruction is to further cause said execution unit to generate a resultant having L data element positions that have been filled based on said set of L control elements.  
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein each of said data elements comprises a byte of data and each of said control elements is a byte wide.  
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein L is 8 wherein said first operand, said second operand, and said resultant are each comprised of 64-bit wide packed data.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein L is 16 and wherein said first operand, said second operand, and said resultant are each comprised of 128-bit wide packed data.  
     
     
         21 . An article comprising a machine readable medium that stores data representing a predetermined function comprising: 
 receiving a first operand having a set of L data elements and a second operand having a set of L control elements; and    for each control element, shuffling data from a first operand data element designated by said control element to an associated resultant data element position its flush to zero field is not set and placing a zero into said associated resultant data element position its a flush to zero field is not set.    
     
     
         22 . The article of  claim 21  wherein said data stored by sad machine readable medium represents an integrated circuit design, which when fabricated performs said predetermined function in response to a single instruction.  
     
     
         23 . The article of  claim 22  wherein said predetermined function further comprises generating a resultant having L data element positions that been filled in accordance to said set of L control elements.  
     
     
         24 . The article of  claim 23  wherein each of said L control elements is associated with a similarly located data element position in a resultant.  
     
     
         25 . The article of  claim 24  wherein each individual control element is to designate a first operand data element by a data element position number.  
     
     
         26 . The article of  claim 25  wherein each of said data elements comprises a byte of data.  
     
     
         27 . The article of  claim 26  wherein each of said control elements is comprised of: 
 a flush to zero field, said flush to zero field to indicate whether a data element position associated with this control element is to be filled with a zero value; and  
 a selection field, said selection field to indicate which first operand data element to shuffle data from.  
 
     
     
         28 . The article of  claim 27  wherein each of said control elements is further comprised of a source select field.  
     
     
         29 . The article of  claim 21  wherein said data stored by said machine readable medium represents a computer instruction, which, if executed by a machine, causes said machine to perform said predetermined function.  
     
     
         30 . A method comprising: 
 receiving a first operand having a set of L data elements;    receiving a second operand having a set of L masks, wherein each of said L masks occupies a particular position in said second operand and is associated with a similarly located data element position in a resultant, each of said L masks to include a flush to zero field;    for each mask, determining whether its flush to zero field is set, and placing a zero into an associated resultant data element position if true; and    if its flush to zero field is not set, shuffling data from a first operand data element designated by said mask to said associated resultant data element position.    
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  wherein each of said L masks occupies a particular position in said second operand and is associated with a similarly located data element position in said resultant.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31  wherein each of said L masks is comprised of: 
 a flush to zero field, said flush to zero field to indicate whether a data element position associated with this control element is to be filled with a zero value; and  
 a selection field, said selection field to indicate which first operand data element to shuffle data from.  
 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32  wherein each of said masks is further comprised of a source select field.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein said first operand, said second operand, and said resultant are each comprised of 64-bit wide packed data.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 33  wherein said first operand, said second operand, and said resultant are each comprised of 128-bit wide packed data.  
     
     
         36 . A method comprising: 
 receiving a first operand having a set of L data elements;    receiving a second operand having a set of L shuffle masks, each of said L shuffle masks associated with a similarly located data element position in a resultant;    for each individual shuffle mask, determining whether its flush to zero field is set, and placing a zero into an associated resultant data element position if true, otherwise shuffling data from a first operand data element designated by said individual shuffle mask to said associated resultant data element position.    
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36  wherein each of said L shuffle masks is comprised of: 
 a flush to zero field, said flush to zero field to indicate whether a data element position associated with this control element is to be filled with a zero value; and  
 a selection field, said selection field to indicate which first operand data element to shuffle data from.  
 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  wherein each of said masks is further comprised of a source select field.  
     
     
         39 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a first memory location to store a plurality of source data elements;    a second memory location to store a plurality of control elements, each of said control elements to correspond to a resultant data element position, and each of said control elements to include a flush to zero field and a selection field;    control logic coupled to said second memory location, said control logic in response to values of said control elements to generate a plurality of selection signals and a plurality of flush to zero signals;    a first plurality of multiplexers coupled to said first memory location and said plurality of selection signals, each of said first plurality of multiplexers to shuffle a data element for a specific resultant data element position in response to a selection signal corresponding to said specific resultant data element position; and    a second plurality of multiplexers coupled to said first plurality of multiplexers and to said plurality of flush to zero signals, each of said second plurality of multiplexers associated with a specific resultant data element position, each of said second plurality of multiplexers to output a zero if its flush to zero signal is active or to output a data element shuffled for that specific resultant data element position.    
     
     
         40 . The apparatus of  claim 39  wherein said plurality of source data elements is a first packed data operand.  
     
     
         41 . The apparatus of  claim 40  where said plurality of control elements is a second packed data operand.  
     
     
         42 . The apparatus of  claim 40  wherein said first and second memory locations are a single instruction multiple data registers.  
     
     
         43 . The apparatus of  claim 42  wherein: 
 said first packed operand is 64 bits long and each of said source data elements is a byte wide; and  
 said second packed operand is 64 bits long and each of said control elements is a byte wide.  
 
     
     
         44 . The apparatus of  claim 42  wherein: 
 said first packed operand is 128 bits long and each of said source data elements is a byte wide; and  
 said second packed operand is 128 bits long and each of said control elements is a byte wide.  
 
     
     
         45 . An apparatus comprising: 
 control logic to receive a set of L shuffle masks, wherein each shuffle mask is associated with a unique resultant data element position, said control logic to provide a select signal and a flush to zero signal for each resultant data element position;    a set of L multiplexers coupled to said control logic, wherein each multiplexer is also associated with a unique resultant data element position, each multiplexer to output a zero if its associated flush to zero signal is active and to output data shuffled from a set of M data elements based on its associated select signal if its associated flush to zero signal is inactive.    
     
     
         46 . The apparatus of  claim 45  further comprising a register with L unique data element positions, each data element position to hold an output from its associated multiplexer.  
     
     
         47 . The apparatus of  claim 46  wherein L is 16 and M is 16.  
     
     
         48 . A system comprising: 
 a memory to store data and instructions;    a processor coupled to said memory on a bus, said processor operable to perform a shuffle operation, said processor comprising: 
 a bus unit to receive an instruction from said memory, said instruction to cause a data shuffle on at least one of L data elements from a first operand based on a set of L shuffle control elements from a second operand;  
   an execution unit coupled to said bus unit, said execution unit to execute said instruction, said instruction to cause said execution unit to: 
 for each shuffle control element, shuffle data from a first operand data element designated by said shuffle control element to an associated resultant data element position if its flush to zero field is not set and place a zero into said associated resultant data element position if its flush to zero field is not set.  
   
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 48  wherein each shuffle control element is comprised of: 
 a flush to zero field, said flush to zero field to indicate whether a data element position associated with this shuffle control element is to be filled with a zero value; and  
 a selection field, said selection field to indicate which first operand data element to shuffle data from.  
 
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 49  wherein each shuffle control element is further comprised of a source select field.  
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 48  wherein said instruction is a packed byte shuffle instruction with flush to zero capability.  
     
     
         52 . The system of  claim 48  wherein each data element is a byte wide, each shuffle command element is a byte wide, and L is 8.  
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 48  wherein said first operand is 64 bits long and said second operand is 64 bits long.