HP Labs Technical Reports

Packed Arithmetic - Architectural Influence on Compilation

Lumley, John

HPL-97-36

Keyword(s):packed arithmetic ; compilation

Abstract: Packed arithmetic instructions attempt to harness the unused power within 32 and 64 bit ALUs to speed principally multimedia application codes. Additional hardware costs are generally modest, partly because only very specific instructions focused on the needs of a very few algorithms are added. Using such features by systematic compilation rather than assembly coding reveals some problems resulting from architectural design choices, mainly with modality and supporting control flow.

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