Patent Document

RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation of Ser. No. 09/187,539, filed on Nov. 6, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,668. 
    
    
     The present invention claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/064,619 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Efficient Synchronous MIMD VLIW Communication” and filed Nov. 7, 1997. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     For any Single Instruction Multiple Data stream (SIMD) machine with a given number of parallel processing elements, there will exist algorithms which cannot make efficient use of the available parallel processing elements, or in other words, the available computing resources. Multiple Instruction Multiple Data stream (MIMD) class machines execute some of these algorithms with more efficiency but require additional hardware to support a separate instruction stream on each processor and lose performance due to communication latency with lightly coupled program implementations. The present invention addresses a better machine organization for execution of these algorithms that reduces hardware cost and complexity while maintaining the best characteristics of both SIMD and MIMD machines and minimizing communication latency. The present invention provides a level of MIMD computational autonomy to SIMD indirect Very Long Instruction Word (iVLIW) processing elements while maintaining the single thread of control used in the SIMD machine organization. Consequently, the term Synchronous-MIMD (SMIMD) is used to describe the invention. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     There are two primary parallel programming models, the SIMD and the MIMD models. In the SIMD model, there is a single program thread which controls multiple processing elements (PEs) in a synchronous lock-step mode. Each PE executes the same instruction but on different data. This is in contrast to the MIMD model where multiple program threads of control exist and any inter-processor operations must contend with the latency that occurs when communicating between the multiple processors due to requirements to synchronize the independent program threads prior to communicating. The problem with SIMD is that not all algorithms can make efficient use of the available parallelism existing in the processor. The amount of parallelism inherent in different algorithms varies leading to difficulties in efficiently implementing a wide variety of algorithms on SIMD machines. The problem with MIMD machines is the latency of communications between multiple processors leading to difficulties in efficiently synchronizing processors to cooperate on the processing of an algorithm. Typically, MIMD machines also incur a greater cost of implementation as compared to SIMD machines since each MIMD PE must have its own instruction sequencing mechanism which can amount to a significant amount of hardware. MIMD machines also have an inherently greater complexity of programming control required to manage the independent parallel processing elements. Consequently, levels of programming complexity and communication latency occur in a variety of contexts when parallel processing elements are employed. It will be highly advantageous to efficiently address such problems as discussed in greater detail below. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is preferably used in conjunction with the ManArray architecture various aspects of which are described in greater detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/885,310 filed Jun. 30, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,753, U.S. Ser. No. 08/949,122 filed Oct. 10, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,502, U.S. Ser. No. 09/169,255 filed Oct. 9, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,356, U.S. Ser. No. 09/169,256 filed Oct. 9, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,501 and U.S. Ser. No. 09/169,072 filed Oct. 9, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,776, Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/067,511 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Dynamically Modifying Instructions in a Very Long Instruction Word Processor” filed Dec. 4, 1997, Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/068,021 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Scalable Instruction Set Architecture” filed Dec. 18, 1997, Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/071,248 entitled “Methods and Apparatus to Dynamically Expand the Instruction Pipeline of a Very Long Instruction Word Processor” filed Jan. 12, 1998, Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/072,915 entitled “Methods and Apparatus to Support Conditional Execution in a VLIW-Based Array Processor with Subword Execution” filed Jan. 28, 1998, Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/077,766 entitled “Register File Indexing Methods and Apparatus for Providing Indirect Control of Register in a VLIW Processor”, filed Mar. 12, 1998, Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/092,130 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Instruction Addressing in Indirect VLIW Processors” filed on Jul. 9, 1998, Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/103,712 entitled “Efficient Complex Multiplexing and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) Implementation on the ManArray” filed on Oct. 9, 1998, and Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/106,867 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Improved Motion Estimation for Video Encoding” filed on Nov. 3, 1998, respectively, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein in their entirety. 
     A ManArray processor suitable for use in conjunction with ManArray indirect Very Long Instruction Words (iVLIWs) in accordance with the present invention may be implemented as an array processor that has a Sequence Processor (SP) acting as an array controller for a scalable array of Processing Elements (PEs) to provide an indirect Very Long Instruction Word architecture. Indirect Very Long Instruction Words (iVLIWs) in accordance with the present invention may be compared in an iVLIW Instruction Memory (VIM) by the SIMD array controller. Sequence Processor or SP. Preferably, VIM exists in each Processing Element or PE and contains a plurality of iVLIWs. After an iVLIW is composed in VIM, another SP instruction, designated XV for “execute iVLIW” in the preferred embodiment, concurrently executes the iVLIW at an identical VIM address in all PEs. If all PE VIMs contain the same instructions, SIMD operation occurs. A one-to-one mapping exists between the XV instruction and the single identical iVLIW that exists in each PE. 
     To increase the efficiency of certain algorithms running on the ManArray, it is possible to operate indirectly on VLIW instructions stored in a VLIW memory with the indirect execution initiated by an execute VLIW (XV) instruction and with different VLIW instructions stored in the multiple PEs at the same VLIW memory address. When the SP instruction causes this set of iVLIWs to execute concurrently across all PEs, Synchronous MIMD or SMIMD operation occurs. A one-to-many mapping exists between the XV instruction and the multiple different iVLIWs that exist in each PE. No specialized synchronization mechanism is necessary since the multiple different iVLIW executions are instigated synchronously by the single controlling point SP with the issuance of the XV instruction. Due to the use of a Receive Model to govern communication between PEs and a ManArray network, the communication latency characteristic common to MIMD operations is avoided as discussed further below. Additionally, since there is only one synchronous locus of execution, additional MIMD hardware for separate program flow in each PE is not required. In this way, the machine is organized to support SMIMD operations at a reduced hardware cost while minimizing communication latency. 
     A ManArray indirect VLIW or iVLIW is preferably loaded under program control, although the alternatives of direct memory access (DMA) loading of the iVLIWs and implementing a section of VIM address space with ROM containing fixed iVLIWs are not precluded. To maintain a certain level of dynamic program flexibility, a portion of VIM, if not all of the VIM, will typically be of the random access type of memory. To load the random access type of VIM, a delimiter instruction, LV for Load iVLIW, specifies that a certain number of instructions that follow the delimiter are to be loaded into the VIM rather than executed. For SIMD operation, each PE gets the same instructions for each VIM address. To set up for SMIMD operation it is necessary to load different instructions at the same VIM address in each PE. 
     In the presently preferred embodiment, this is achieved by a masking mechanism that functions such that the loading of VIM only occurs on PEs that are masked ON. PEs that are masked OFF do not execute the delimiter instruction and therefore do not load the specified set of instructions that follow the delimiter into the VIM. Alternatively, different instructions could be loaded in parallel from the PE local memory or the VIM could be the target of a DMA transfer. Another alternative for loading different instructions into the same VIM address is through the use of a second LV instruction, LV 2 , which has a second 32-bit control word that follows the LV instruction. The first and second control words rearrange the bits between them so that a PE label can be added. This second LV 2  approach does not require the PEs to be masked and may provide some advantages in different system implementations. By selectively loading different instructions into the same VIM address on different PEs, the ManArray is set up for the SMIMD operation. 
     One problem encountered when implementing SMIMD operation is in dealing with inter-processing element communication. In SIMD mode, all PEs in the array are executing the same instruction. Typically, these SIMD PE-to-PE communications instructions are thought of as assigning a Send Model. That is to say, the SIMD Send Model communication instructions indicate in which direction or to which target PE, each PE should send its data. When a communication instruction such as SEND-WEST is encountered, each PE sends data to the PE topologically defined as being its western neighbor. The Send Model specifies both sender and receiver PEs. In the SEND-WEST example, each PE sends its data to its West PE and receives data from its East PE. In SIMD mode, this is not a problem. 
     In SMIMD mode of operation, using a Send Model, it is possible for multiple processing elements to all attempt to send data to the same neighbor. This attempt presents a hazardous situation because processing elements such as those in the ManArray may be defined as having only one receive port, capable of receiving from only one other processing element at a time. When each processing element is defined as having one receipt port, such an attempted operation cannot complete successfully and results in a communication hazard. 
     To avoid the communication hazard described above, a Receive Model is used for the communication between PEs. Using the Receive Model, each processing element controls a switch that selects from which processing element it receives. It is impossible for communication hazards to occur because it is impossible for any two processing elements to contend for the same receive port. By definition, each PE controls its own receive port and makes data available without target PE specification. For any meaningful communication to occur between processing elements using the Receive Model, the PEs must be programmed to cooperate in the receiving of the data that is made available. Using Synchronous MIMD (SMIMD), this is guaranteed to occur if the cooperating instructions all exist at the same iVLIW location. Without SMIMD, a complex mechanism would be necessary to synchronize communications and use the Receive Model. 
    
    
     
       A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well as further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following Detailed Description and the accompanying drawings. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates various aspects of ManArray indirect VLIW instruction memory in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a basic iVLIW Data Path; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a five slot iVLIW with an expanded view of the ALU slot; 
         FIG. 4A  shows an LV Load/Modify VLIW instruction; 
         FIG. 4B  shows an XV Execute VLIW Instruction; 
         FIG. 4C  shows instruction field definitions; 
         FIG. 4D  shows further instruction field definitions; 
         FIG. 4E  shows an ADD Instruction; 
       FIGS.  4 F 1  and  4 F 2  illustrate slot storage for three Synchronous MIMD iVLIWs in a 2×2 ManArray configuration; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an iVLIW load and fetch pipeline in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates aspects of SIMD iVLIW Array processing; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an iVLIW translation extension; 
         FIG. 8A  illustrates an iVLIW translation extension load and fetch pipeline; 
         FIG. 8B  illustrates an alternative format for VIM iVLIW shortage; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a send model cluster switch control and an exemplary hazard for SMIMD communications using the send model; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a send model with a centralized cluster switch control; and 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a receive model cluster switch control used to avoid communications hazards in the SMIMD mode of operation. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     One set of presently preferred indirect Very Long Instruction Word (iVLIW) control instructions for use in conjunction with the present invention is described in detail below.  FIG. 1  depicts a system for the execution of the iVLIWs at Address “i”, where the iVLIW is indicated by the vertical set of boxes SLAMD  105  in each VIM representing a S=Store, L=Load, A=Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), M=Multiply Accumulate Unit (MAU), and D=Data Select Unit (DSU) set of instructions, in a 2×2 ManArray 100 of PEs  104 , PE 0 -PE 3 . In  FIG. 1 , the 2×2 ManArray  100  further includes a sequence processor (SP) controller  102  which dispatches 32-bit instructions to the array PEs over a single 32-bit bus. One type of 32-bit instructions is an execute iVLIW (XV) instruction which contains a VIM address offset value that is used in conjunction with a VIM base address to generate a pointer to the iVLIW which is desired to be executed. The PEs  104  are interconnected by a cluster switch  107 . 
     The SP  102  and each PE  104  in the ManArray architecture as adapted for use in accordance with the present invention contains a quantity of iVLIW memory (VIM)  106  as shown in FIG.  1 . Each VIM  106  contains storage space to hold multiple VLIW instruction Addresses  103 , and each Address is capable of storing up to eight simplex instructions. Presently preferred implementations allow each iVLIW instruction to contain up to five simplex instructions: one associated with each of the Store Unit  108 , Load Unit  110 , Arithmetic Logic Unit  112  (ALU), Multiply-Accumulate Unit  114  (MAU), and Data-Select Unit  116  (DSU)  116 . For example, an iVLIW instruction at VIM address “i”  105  contains the five instructions SLAMD. 
       FIG. 2  shows a basic iVLIW data path arrangement  200  by which a fetched instruction is stored in an Instruction Register  20  which is connected to the VIM Load and Store Control function  22 . The VIM Load and Store Control function provides the interface signals to VIM  24 . The VIM  24  corresponds to VIM  106 , with each VIM  106  of  FIG. 1  having associated registers and controls, such as those shown in FIG.  2 . The output of the VIM  24  is pipelined to the iVLIW register  26 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a Five Slot iVLIW VIM  300  with N entries, 0, 1, . . . N−1. Each VIM  300  addressed location includes storage space for Store, Load, ALU, MAU and DSU instructions  301 - 305 . An expanded ALU slot view  303 ′ shows a 32-bit storage space with bit- 31  “d” highlighted. The use of the instruction bits in VIM storage will be discussed in greater detail below. 
     iVLIW instructions can be loaded into an array of PE VIMs collectively, or, by using special instructions to mask a PE or PEs, each PE VIM can be loaded individually. The iVLIW instructions in VIM are accessed for execution through the Execute VLIW (XV) instruction, which, when executed as a single instruction, causes the simultaneous execution of the simplex instructions located at the VIM memory address. An XV instruction can cause the simultaneous execution of:
     1. all of the simplex instructions located in an individual SP&#39;s or PE&#39;s VIM address, or   2. all instructions located in all PEs at the same relative VIM address, or   3. all instructions located at a subset or group of all PEs at the same relative VIM address.   

     Only two control instructions are necessary to load/modify iVLIW memories, and to execute iVLIW instructions. They are:
     1. Load/Modify VLIW Memory Address (LV) illustrated in  FIG. 4A , and   2. Execute VLIW (XV) illustrated in FIG.  4 B.   

     The LV instruction  400  shown in  FIG. 4A  is for 32 bit encoding as shown in encoding block  410  and has the presently preferred syntax/operation shown in syntax/operation block  420  as described further below. The LV instruction  400  is used to load and/or disable individual instruction slots of the specified SP or PE VLIW Memory (VIM). The VIM address is computed as the sum of a base VIM address register Vb (V 0  or V 1 ) plus an unsigned 8-bit offset VIMOFFS shown in bits  0 - 7 , the block of bits  411 , of encoding block  410  in FIG.  4 A. The VIM address must be in the valid range for the hardware configuration otherwise the operation of this invention in undefined. 
     Any combination of individual instruction slots may be disabled via the disable slot parameter ‘d={SLAMD}’, where S=Store Unit (SU), L=Load Unit (LU), A=Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), M=Multiply-Accumulate Unit (MAU) and D=Data Select Unit (DSU). A blank ‘D=’parameter does not disable any slots. Specified slots are disabled prior to any instructions that are loaded. 
     The number of instructions to load are specified utilizing an InstrCnt parameter. For the present implementation, valid values are 0-5. The next InstrCnt instructions following LV are loaded into the specified VIM. The Unit Affecting Flags (UAF) parameter ‘F=[AMD]’ selects which arithmetic instruction slot (A=ALU, M=MAU, D=DSU) is allowed to set condition flags for the specified VIM when it is executed. A blank ‘F=’ selects the ALU instruction slot. During processing of the LV instruction no arithmetic flags are affected and the number of cycles is one plus the number of instructions loaded. 
     The XV instruction  425  shown in  FIG. 4B  is also for 32 bit encoding as shown in encoding block  430  and has the presently preferred syntax/operation shown in syntax/operation block  435  as described further below. The XV instruction  425  is used to execute individual instruction slots of the specified SP or PE VLIW Memory (VIM). The VIM address is computed as the sum of a base VIM address register Vb (V 0  or V 1 ) plus an unsigned 8-bit offset VIMOFFS shown in bits  0 - 7 , the block of bits  431 , of encoding blocks  430  of FIG.  4 B. The VIM address must be in the valid range for the hardware configuration otherwise the operation of this instruction is undefined. 
     Any combination of individual instruction slots may be executed via the execute slot parameter ‘E={SLAMD}’, where S=Store Unit (SU), L=Load Unit (LU), A=Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), M=Multiply-Accumulate Unit (MAU), D=Data Select Unit (DSU). A blank ‘E=’ parameter does not execute any slots. The Unit Affecting Flags (UAF) parameter ‘F={AMDN}’ overrides the UAF specified for the VLIW when it was loaded via the LV instruction. The override selects which arithmetic instruction slot (A=ALU, M=MAU, D=DSU) or none (N=NONE) is allowed to set condition flags for this execution of the VLIW. The override does not affect the UAF setting specified by the LV instruction. A blank ‘F=’ selects the UAF specified when the VLIW was loaded. 
     Condition flags are set by the individual simplex instruction in the slot specified by the setting of the ‘F= parameter from the original LV instruction or as overridden by an ‘F=[AMD]’ parameter in the XV instruction. Condition flags are not affected when ‘F=N’. Operation occurs in one cycle. Pipeline considerations must be taken into account based upon the individual simplex instructions in each of the slots that are executed. Descriptions of individual fields in these iVLIW instructions are shown in  FIGS. 4C and 4D .  FIGS. 4C and 4D  show Instruction Field Definitions  440  tabulated by Name  442 , number of bits  444  and description values  446 .  FIGS. 4E and 4F  illustrate a presently preferred ADD instruction and slot storage for three synchronous MIMD iVLIWs in a 2×2 ManArray configuration, respectively. 
     The ADD instruction  450  shown in  FIG. 4E  is again for 32 bit encoding as shown in encoding block  455  and has the presently preferred syntax/operation shown in syntax/operation block  460  as described further below. ADD instruction  450  is used to store the sum of source registers R x  and R y  in target register R r . Arithmetic scalar flags are affected on least significant operation where N=MSB of resulting sum, Z=1 if result is zero, and is otherwise 0, V=1 if an overflow occurs, and is otherwise 0, and C=1 if a carry occurs, and is otherwise 0. The v bit is meaningful for signed operations, and the C bit is meaningful for unsigned operations. The number of cycles is one. 
     Individual, Group, and “Synchronous MIMD” PE iVLIW Operations 
     The LV and XV instructions may be used to load, modify, disable, or execute iVLIW instructions in individual PEs or PE groups defined by the programmer. To do this, individual PEs are enabled or disabled by an instruction which modifies a Control Register located in each PE which, among other things, enables or disables each PE. To load and operate an individual PE or a group of PEs, the control registers are modified to enable individual PE(s), and to disable all others. Normal iVLIW instructions will then operate only on PEs that are enabled. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , aspects of the iVLIW load and fetch pipeline are described in connection with an iVLIW system  500 . Among its other aspects.  FIG. 5  shows a selection mechanism for allowing selection of instructions out of VIM memory. A fetched instruction is loaded into a first instruction register (IR 1 )  510 . Register  510  corresponds generally with instruction register  20  of FIG.  2 . The output of IR 1  is pre-decoded in predecoder or precode function  512  early in the pipeline cycle prior to loading the second instruction register (IR 2 )  514 . When the instructions in IR 1  is a Load iVLIW instruction (LV) with a non-zero instruction count, the pre-decoder  512  generates an LVe 1  control signal  515 , which is used to set up the LV operation cycle, and the VIM address  511  is calculated by use of the specified Vb register  502  address by an adder  504  to an offset value included in the LV instruction via path  503 . The resulting VIM address  511  is stored in register  506  and passed through multiplexer  508  to address the VIM  516 . VIM  516  corresponds generally to VIM  106  of FIG.  1 . Register  506  is required to hold the VIM address  507  during the LV operations. The VIM address  511  and LV control state allow the loading of the instructions received after the LV instruction into the VIM  516 . At the end of the cycle in which the LV was received, the disable bits  10 - 17 , shown in  FIG. 4A , are loaded into the d-bits register  518  for use when loading instructions into the VIM  516 . Upon receipt of the next instruction in IR 1   510 , which is to be loaded into VIM  516 , the appropriate control signal is generated depending upon the instruction type, Storec 1   518 , Loadc 1   521 , ALUc 1   523 , MAUc 1   525 , or DSUc 1   527 . The pre-decode function  512  is preferably provided based upon a simple decoding of the Group bits (bits  30  and  31 ) which define the instruction type shown in  FIGS. 4A , B and E and the Unit field bits (bits  27  and  28  which specify the execution unit type) shown in  FIGS. 4D and 4E . By using this pre-decode step, the instruction in IR 1   510  can be loaded into VIM  516  in the proper functional unit position. For example, for the ADD instruction of  FIG. 4E , included in the LV list of instructions, when this instruction is received into IR 1   510  it can be determined by the pre-decode function  512  that this instruction should be loaded into the ALU instruction slot  520  in VIM  516 . In addition, the appropriate d-bit  531  for that functional slot position is loaded into bit- 31  of that slot. The loaded d-bit comprises one of the group code bit positions from the original instruction. 
     Upon receipt of an XV instruction in IR 1   510 , the VIM address  511  is calculated by use of the specified Vb register  502  added by adder  504  to the offset value included in the XV instruction via path  503 . The resulting VIM Address  507  is passed through multiplexer  508  to address the VIM. The iVLIW at the specified address is read out of the VIM  516  and passes through the multiplexers  530 ,  532 ,  534 ,  536 , and  538 , to the IR 2  registers  514 . As an alternative to minimize the read VIM access timing critical path, the output of VIM  516  can be latched into a register whose output is passed through a multiplexer prior to the decode state logic. 
     For execution of the XV instruction, the IR 2 MUX 1  control signal  533  in conjunction with the pre-decode XVc 1  control signal  517  causes all the IR 2  multiplexers,  530 ,  532 ,  534 ,  536 , and  538 , to select the VIM output paths,  541 ,  543 ,  545 ,  547 , and  549 . At this point, the five individual decode and execution stages of the pipeline,  540 ,  542 ,  544 ,  546 , and  548 , are completed in synchrony providing the iVLIW parallel execution performance. To allow a single 32-bit instruction to execute by itself in the PE or SP, the bypass VIM path  533  is shown. For example, when a simplex ADD instruction is received into IR 1   510  for parallel array execution, the pre-decode function  512  generates the IR 2 MUX 1   533  control signal, which in conjunction with the instruction type pre-decode signal,  523  in the case of an ADD, and lack of an XV  517  or LV  515  active control signal, causes the ALU multiplexer  534  to select the bypass path  535 . 
     Since a ManArray can be configured with a varying number of PEs,  FIG. 6  shows an exemplary SIMD iVLIW usage of an iVLIW system such as the system  500  shown in FIG.  5 . In  FIG. 6 , there are J+1 PEs as indicated by the PE numbering PE 0  to PE 1 . A portion of LV code is shown in  FIG. 6  indicating that three instructions are to be loaded at VIM address  27  with the Load Unit and MAU instruction slots being disabled. This loading operation is determined from the LV instruction  601  based upon the syntax shown in FIG.  4 A. Assuming all PEs are masked on, then the indicated three instructions  603 ,  605 , and  607 , will be loaded at VIM address  27  in each of the J+1 PEs in the array. The result of this loading is indicated in  FIG. 6  by showing the instructions stored in their appropriate execution slot in the VIMs, instruction  603  in the ALU slot, instruction  605  in the DSU slot, and instruction  607  in the Store Unit slot. 
     It is noted, that in the previous discussion, covered by  FIGS. 3 ,  5 , and  6 , the pre-decode function allows the multiple bit- 31  position of the VIM slot fields to be written with the stored d-bits  518  shown in  FIG. 5 , that were generated from the LV instruction that initiated the VIM loading sequence. It is further noted that the unit field, bits  27  and  28 , in the arithmetic instructions, see, for example,  FIG. 4E , is needed to determine which VIM slot an arithmetic instruction is to be loaded into. Consequently, since the instruction in IR 1  can be specifically associated with the execution unit slot in VIM by use of the pre-decode function, the Group bits and Unit field bits do not need to be stored in the VIM and can be used for other purposes as demonstrated by use of the single d-bit in the previous discussion. The specific bit positions in the VIM slots are shown in VIM  700  in  FIG. 7 , wherein one of the instruction group bits, bit  30  of  FIG. 4E , and the instruction Unit field bits, bits  27  and  28  are replaced in VIM  700  by the Translation Extension Option bits “o” for Opcode Extensions bit- 30  labeled  721  of  FIG. 7 , “r” for Register File Extensions bit- 28  labeled  723 , and “c” for Conditional Execution Extensions bit- 27  labeled  725 . These additional bits are separately stored in a miscellaneous register  850  shown in  FIG. 8A , that the programmer can load to or store from. These bits provide extended capabilities that could not provide due to lack of instruction encoding bits in a 32-bit instruction format. For the opcode extension bit “o”, it is possible to map one set of instructions into a new set of instructions. For the register extension bit “f”, it is possible to double the register file space and have two banks of registers providing either additional register space or to act as a fast context switching mechanism allowing two register banks to be split between two contexts. For the condition execution extension bit “c”, it is possible to specify two different sets of conditions or specify a different conditional execution functionality under programmer control. 
       FIG. 8A  depicts an iVLIW system  800  which illustrates aspects of the iVLIW translation extension load and fetch pipeline showing the addition of the o,r and c bits register  850  and the set of pre-decode control signals  815 ,  817 ,  819 ,  821 ,  823 ,  825 ,  827 , and  833 . It is noted that other uses of these freed up bits are possible. For example, all three bits could be used for register file extension providing either individual control to the three operand instructions or providing up to eight blanks of 32×32 registers. 
     To allow a single 32-bit instruction to execute by itself in the iVLIW PE or iVLIW SP, the bypass VIM path  835  is shown in FIG.  8 A. For example, when a simplex ADD instruction is received into IR 1   810  for parallel array execution, the pre-decode function  812  generates the IR 2 MUX 2   833  control signal, which in conjunction with the instruction type pre-decode signal,  823  in the case of an ADD, and lack of an XV  817  or LV  815  active control signal, causes the ALU multiplexer  834  to select the bypass path  835 . Since as described herein, the bypass operation is to occur during a full stage of the pipeline, it is possible to replace the group bits and the unit field bits in the bypassed instructions as they enter the IR 2  latch stage. This is indicated in  FIG. 8A  by the “o,r, and c” bits signal path  851  being used to replace the appropriate bit positions at the input to the multiplexers  830 ,  832 ,  834 ,  836 , and  838 . 
     It is noted that alternative formats for VIM iVLIW storage are possible and may be preferable depending upon technology and design considerations. For example,  FIG. 8B  depicts an alternative form VIM  800 ′ from that shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8A . The d-bits per execution slot are grouped together with the additional bits “o, r, c and uaf” bits. These ten bits are grouped separately from the execution unit function bits defined in bits  0 - 26 , 29  per each slot. The unit affecting field (uaf) bits  22  and  23  of  FIG. 4A  from the LV instruction are required to be stored at a single iVLIW VIM address since the “uaf” bits pertain to which arithmetic unit affects the flags at the time of execution. Other storage formats are possible, for example, storing the d-bits with the function bits and the bits associated with the whole iVLIW, such as the “uaf” bits, stored separately. It is also noted that for a k-slot iVLIW, k*32-bits are not necessarily required to be stored in VIM. Due to the pre-decoder function, not only can additional bits be stored in the k*32-bit space assumed to be required to store the k 32-bit instructions, but the k*32-bit space can be reduced if full utilization of the bits is not required. This is shown in  FIG. 8B , where the total number of storage bits per VIM address is given by five times the 28-bits required per execution unit slot position ( 0 - 26  and  29 ) plus five d-bits, plus three “o, r, and c” bits plus 2 “uaf” bits for a total of 150 bits per iVLIW address which is less than the 5*32=160-bits that might be assumed to be required. Increased functionality while reducing VIM memory space results. In general, additional information may be stored in the VIM individually per execution unit or as separate individual bits which affect control over the iVLIW stored at that VIM address. For example, sixteen additional load immediate bits can be stored in a separate “constant” register and loaded in a VIM address to extend the Load Unit&#39;s capacity to load 32 bits of immediate data. To accomplish this extension, the VIM data width must be expanded appropriately. Also the size of the stored iVLIWs is decoupled from being a multiple of the instruction size thereby allowing the stored iVLIW to be greater than or less than the k*32-bits for a k instruction iVLIW, depending upon requirements. 
     In a processor consisting of an SP controller  102  as in  FIG. 1  but not shown for clarity in  FIG. 9  or FIG.  10  and an array of PEs, such as processor  900  of  FIG. 9 , or processor  1000  of  FIG. 10 , a problem may be encountered when implementing SMIMD operations when dealing with inter-PE communications. The typical SIMD mode of communications specifies all PEs execute the same inter-PE communication instruction. This SIMD inter-PE instruction, being the same in each PE, requires a common controlling mechanism to ensure compliance with the common operation defined between the PEs. Typically, a Send Model is used where a single instruction, such as SEND-WEST, is dispatched to all PEs in the array. The SIMD inter-PE communication instruction causes a coordinated control of the network interface between the PEs to allow each PE to send data to the PE topologically defined by the inter-PE instruction. This single SIMD instruction can be interpreted and the network interface  911  can be controlled by a single PE as shown in  FIG. 9  since all PEs receive the same instruction. It is noted that the ManArray 2×2 cluster switch, shown in  FIG. 9 , is made up of four 4-to-1 multiplexers  920 ,  922 ,  924 , and  926 , for the interface Input/Output (I/O) buses between the DSU. These buses can be  8 ,  9 ,  16 ,  32 ,  64 , or other number of bit, bit buses without restriction. The control of a single 4-to-1 multiplexer requires only two bits of control to select one out of four of the possible paths. This can be extended for larger clusters of PEs as necessary with larger multiplexers. It is also possible in a SIMD system to have a centralized control for the intrface network between PEs as shown in FIG.  10 . In  FIG. 10 , a centralized controller  1010  receives the same dispatched inter-PE communication instruction  1011  from the SP controller as do the other PEs in the network. This mechanism allows the network connections to be changed on a cycle-by-cycle basis. Two attributes of the SIMD Send Model are a common instruction to all PEs and the specification of both sender and receiver. In the SIMD mode, this approach is not a problem. 
     In attempting to extend the Send Model into the SMIMD mode, toher problems may occur. One such problem is that in SMIMD mode it is possible for multiple processing elements to all attempt to send data to a single PE, since each PE can receive a dfiferent inter-PE communication instruction. The two attributes of the SIMD Send Model break down immediately, naemly having a common inter-PE instruction and specifying both source and target, or, in other words, both sender and receiver. It is a communications hazard to have more than one PE target the same PE in a SIMD model with single cycle communication. This communication hazard is shown in  FIG. 9  wherein the DSUs for PEs  1 ,  2  and  3  are to send data to PE 0  while PE 0  is to send data to PE 3 . The three data inputs to PE 0  cannot be received. In other systems, the resolution of this type of problem many times causes the insertion of interface buffers and priority control logic to delay one or more of the conflicting paths. This violates the inherently synchronous nature of SMIMD processing since the scheduling of the single cycle communications operations must be done during the programming of the iVLIW instructions to be executed in the PEs. To avoid the communication hazards without violating the synchronous MIMD requirements, a Receive Model is advantageously employed. The single point of network control, be it located in a single PE or in a centralized control mechanism, that is facilitated by the Send Model is replaced in the Receive Model with distributed network interface control. Each PE controls its own receiver port. The Receive Model specifies the receive path through the network interface. In the case of the ManArray network, each PE controls its own multiplexer input path of the cluster switch. 
     This arrangement is shown for a 2×2 array processor  1100  in  FIG. 11  where each PE has its own control of its input multiplexer,  1120 ,  1122 ,  1124  or  1126 , respectively. For example, PE 0  has control signals  1111  for controlling its input multiplexer  1120 . The Receive Model also requires that data be made available on the PEs output port to the interface network without target PE specification. Consequently, for any meaningful communication to occur between processing elements using the Receive Model, the PEs must be programmed to cooperate in the receiving of the data that is made availabe. Using Synchronous MIMD, this cooperation is guaranteed to occur if the cooperating instructions exist in the same iVIW location. With this location of instructions when an XV instruction is executed, the cooperating PEs execute the proper inter-PE communications instructions to cuase data movement between any two or more PEs. In general, in an array of PEs, there can be multiple groups of PEs. In each such a group, a one or more PEs can receive data from another PE while in another group one or more PEs can receive data from a different PE. A group can vary in size from two PEs to the whole array of PEs. While  FIG. 11  does not show an SP, such as the SP controller  102  of  FIG. 1 , for case and clarity of illustration, such a controller will preferably be included although it will be recognized that SP functionality can be merged with a PE such as PE 0  as taught in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/077,457 previously incorporated by reference, or SP functionality could be added toall of the PEs although such increased functionality would be relatively costly. 
       FIG. 4F  shows the definition  470  of three Synchronous-MIMD iVLIWs in a 2×2 ManArray configuration. The top section  480  gives a descriptive view of the operation. The bottom section  490  gives the corresponding instruction mnemonics which are loaded in the LU, MAU, ALU, DSU, and SU, respectively. Each iVLIW contains four rows between thick black lines, one for each PE. The leftmost column of the figure shows the address where the iVLIW is loaded in PE iVLIW Instruction Memory (VIM). The next column shows the PE numer. Each iVLIW contains one row for each PE, showing the instructions which are loaded into that PE&#39;s VIM entry. The remaining columns list the instruction for each of the five execution units: Load Unit (LU), Multiply-Accumulate Unit (MAU), Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), Data Select Unit (DSU), and Store Unit (SU). 
     For example, VIM entry number  29  in PE 2495  is loaded with the four instructions li.p.w R 3 , A 1 +, A 7 , fmpy.pm. 1 fw R 5 , R 2 , R 31 , fadd.pa. 1 fw R 9 , R 7 , R 5 , and pexchg.pd.w R 8 , R 0 , 2×2_PE 3 . These instructions are those found in the next to last row of FIG.  4 F. That same VIM entry ( 29 ) contains different instructions in PEs  0 ,  1 , and  3 , as can be seen by the rows corresponding to thes PEs on VIM entry  29 , for PE 0   491 , PE 2   493 , and PE 3   497 . 
     The following example 1-1 shows the sequence of instructions which load the PE VIM memories as defined in FIG.  4 F. Note that PE Masking is used in order to load different instructions into different PE VIMs at the same address. 
     EXAMPLE 1-1 
     Loading Synchronous MIMD iVLIWs into PE VIMs 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 ! first load in instructions common to PEs 1, 2, 3            lim.s.h0 SCR1, 1   ! mask off PEO in order to load in 1, 2, 3       lim.s.h0 VAR, 0   ! load VIM base address reg v0 with zero       lv.p v0, 27, 2, d=, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+27 (=27) with the           ! next two instructions; disable no           ! instrs; default flag setting to ALU                   li.p.w R1, A1+, A7   ! load instruction into LU              fmpy.pm.1fw R6, R3, R31   ! mpy instruction into MAU            lv.p v0, 28, 2, d=, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+28 (=28) with the           ! next two instructions; disable no           ! instrs; default flag setting to ALU                   li.p.w R2, A1+, A7   ! load instruction into LU              fmpy.pm.1fw R4, R1, R31   ! mpy instruction into MAU            lv.p v0, 29, 2, d=, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+29 (=29) with the           ! next two instructions; disable no           ! instrs; default flag setting to ALU                   li.p.w R3, A1+, A7   ! load instruction into LU              fmpy.pm.1fw R5, R2, R31   ! mpy instruction into MAU            ! now load in instructions unique to PEO            lim.s.h0 SCR1, 14   ! mask off PEs 1, 2, 3 to load PEO       nop   ! one cycle delay to set mask       lv.p v0, 27, 1, d=!mad, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+27 (=27) with the           ! next instruction; disable instrs           ! in LU, MAU, ALU, DSU slots; default           ! flag setting to ALU                   si.p.w R1, A2+, R28   ! store instruction into SU            lv.p v0, 28, 1, d=!mad, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+28 (=28) with the           ! next instruction; disable instrs           ! in LU, MAU, ALU, DSU slots; default           ! flag setting to ALU                   si.p.w R1, A2+, R28   ! store instruction into SU            lv.p v0, 29, 1, d=!mad, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+29 (=29) with the           ! next instruction; disable instrs           ! in LU, MAU, ALU, DSU slots; default           ! flag setting to ALU                   si.p.w R1, A2+, R28   ! store instruction into SU            ! now load in instructions unique to PE1            lim.s.h0 SCR1, 13   ! mask off PEs 0, 2, 3 to load PE1       nop   ! one cycle delay to set mask       iv.p v0, 27, 3, d=, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+27 (=27) with the           ! next three instructions; disable no           ! instrs; default flag setting to ALU                   fadd.pa.1fw R10, R9, R8   ! add instruction into ALU                   pexchg.pd.w R7, R0, 2x2_PE3   ! per comm instruction into DSU                   si.p.w R10, +A2, A6   ! store instruction into SU            lv.p v0, 28, 2, d=s, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+28 (=28) with the           ! next two instructions; disable instr           ! in SU slot; default flag setting to ALU                   fadd.pa.1fw R9, R7, R4   ! add instruction into ALU                   pexchg.pd.w R8, R5, 2x2_PE2   ! per comm instruction into DSU            lv.p v0, 29, 3, d=, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+29 (=29) with the           ! next three instructions; disable no           ! instrs; default flag setting to ALU                   fcmpLE.pa.1fw R10, R0   ! compare instruction into ALU                   pexchg.pd.w R15, R6, 2x2_PE1   ! pe comm instruction into DSU                   t.sii.p.w R0, A2+, 0   ! store instruction into SU            ! now load in instructions unique to PE2            lim.s.h0 SCR1, 11   ! mask off PEs 0, 1, 3 to load PE2       nop   ! one cycle delay to set mask       lv.p v0, 27, 3, d=, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+27 (=27) with the           ! next three instructions; disable no           ! instrs; default flag setting to ALU                   fcmpLE.pa.1fw R10, R0   ! compare instruction into ALU                   pexchg.pd.w R15, R6, 2x2_PE2   ! pe comm instruction into DSU                   t.sii.p.w R0, A2+, 0   ! store instruction into SU            lv.p v0, 28, 3, d=, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+28 (=28) with the           ! next three instructions; disable no           ! instrs; default flag setting to ALU                   fadd.pa.1fw R10, R9, R8   ! add instruction into ALU                   pexchg.pd.w R7, R4, 2x2_PE1   ! pe comm instruction into DSU                   si.p.w R10, +A2, A6   ! store instruction into SU            lv.p v0, 29, 2, d=s, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+29 (=29) with the           ! next two instructions; disable instr           ! in SU slot; default flag setting to ALU                   fadd.pa.1fw R9, R7, R5   ! add instruction into ALU                   pexchg.pd.w R8, R0, 2x2_PE3   ! pe comm instruction into DSU            ! now load in instructions unique to PE3            lim.s.h0 SCR1, 7   ! mask off PEs 0, 1, 2 to load PE3       nop   ! one cycle delay to set mask       lv.p v0, 27, 2, d=s, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+27 (=27) with the           ! next two instructions; disable instr           ! in SU slot; default flag setting to ALU                   fadd.pa.1fw R9, R7, R6   ! add instruction into ALU                   pexchg.pd.w R8, R4, 2x2_PE2   ! pe comm instruction into DSU            lv.p v0, 28, 2, d=d, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+28 (=28) with the           ! next 2 instructions; disable instr in           ! DSU slot; default flag setting to ALU                   fcmpLE.pa.1fw R10, R0   ! compare instruction into ALU              t.sii.p.w R0, A2+, 0   ! store instruction into SU            lv.p v0, 29, 3, d=, f=   ! load VIM entry v0+29 (=29) with the           ! next three instructions; disable no           ! instrs; default flag setting to ALU                   fadd.pa.1fw R10, R9, R8   ! add instruction into ALU                   pexchg.pd.w R7, R5, 2x2_PE1   ! pe comm instruction into DSU                   si.p.w R10, +A2, A6   ! store instruction into SU            lim.s.h0 SCR1, 0   ! reset PE mask so all PEs are on       nop   ! one cycle delay to set mask                    
The following example 1-2 shows the sequence of instructions which execute the PE VIM entries as loaded by the example 1-1 code in FIG.  4 F. Note that no PE Masking is necessary. The specified VIM entry is executed in each of the PEs, PE 0 , PE 1 , PE 2 , and PE 3 .
 
     EXAMPLE 1-2 
     Executing Synchronous MIMD iVLIWs from PE VIMs 
                                                                                   ! address register, loop, and other setup would be here       . . .       ! startup VLIW execution       ! f= parameter indicates default to LV flag setting            xv.p v0, 27, e=l, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+27, LU only       xv.p v0, 28, e=lm, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+28, LU, MAU only       xv.p v0, 29, e=lm, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+29, LU, MAU only       xv.p v0, 27, e=lmd, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+27, LU, MAU,           DSU only       xv.p v0, 28, e=lamd, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+28, all units           except SU       xv.p v0, 29, e=lamd, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+29, all units           except SU       xv.p v0, 27, e=lamd, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+27, all units           except SU       xv.p v0, 28, e=lamd, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+28, all units           except SU       xv.p v0, 29, e=lamd, f=   ! execute VIM entry V0+29, all units           except SU            ! loop body - mechanism to enable looping has been previously set up            loop_begin: xv.p v0, 27, e=slamd, f=   ! execute v0+27, all units                   xv.p v0, 28, e=slamd, f=   ! execute v0+28, all units            loop_end: xv.p v0, 29, e=slamd, f=   ! execute v0+29, all units                    
Description of Exemplary Algorithms Being Performed
 
     The iVLIWs defined in  FIG. 4F  are used to effect the dot product of a constant 3×1 vector with a stream of variable 3×1 vectors stored in PE local data memories. Each PE stores one element of the vector. PE 1  stores the x component, PE 2  stores the y component, and PE 3  stores the z component. PE 0  stores no component. The constant vector is held in identical fashion in a PE register, in this case, compute register R 31 . 
     In order to avoid redundant calculations or idle PEs, the iVLIWs operate on three variable vectors at a time. Due to the distribution of the vector components over the PEs, it is not feasible to use PE 0  to compute a 4 th  vector dot product. PE 0  is advantageously employed instead to take care of some setup for afuture algorithm stage. This can be seen in the iVLIW load slots, as vector  1  is loaded in iVLIW  27  (component-wise across the PEs, as described above), vector  2  is loaded in iVLIW  28 , and vector  3  is loaded in iVLIW  29  (lo.p.w R*, A 1 +, A 7 ). PE 1  computes the x component of the dot product for each ofthe three vectors. PE 2  computes the y component, and PE 3  computes the z component (ftopy.pm. 1 fw R*, R*, R 31 ). At this point, the communication among the PEs must occur in order to get the y and z components of the vector  1  dot product to PE 1 , and x and z components of the vector  2  dot product to PE 2 , and the x and y components of the vector  3  dot product to PE 3 . This communication occurs in the DSU via the pexchg instruction. In this way, each PE is summing (fadd.pa. 1 fw R 9 , R 7 , R* and fadd.pa. 1 fw R 10 , R 9 , R 8 ) the components of a unique dot product result simultaneously. These results are then stored (si.p.w. R 10 , +A 2 , A 6 ) into PE memories. Note that each PE will compute and store every third result. The final set of results are then accessed in round-robin fashion from PEs  1 ,  2 , and  3 . 
     Additionally, each PE performs a comparison (fcmpLE.pa. 1 fw R 10 , R 0 ) of its dot product result with zero (held in PE register R 0 ), and conditionally stores a zero (t.sii.p.w R 0 , A 2 +,  0 ) in place of the computed dot product if that dot product was negative. In other words, it is determined if the comparison is R 10  less than R 0 ? is true. This implementation of adot product with removal of negative values is used, for example, in lighting calculations for 3D graphics applications. 
     While the present invention has been disclosed in the context of presently preferred methods and apparatus for carrying out the invention, variuos alternative implementations and variations wil be readily apparetn to those of ordinary skill in the art. By way of example, the present invention does not preclude the ability to load an instruction into VIM and also execute the instruction. This capability was deemed an unnecesary complication for the presently preferred programming model among other considerations such as instruction formats and hardware complexity. Consequently, the Load iVLIW delimiter approach was chosen.

Technology Category: g