Functional unit having tree structure to support vector sorting algorithm and other algorithms

摘要

An apparatus is described having a functional unit of an instruction execution pipeline. The functional unit has a plurality of compare-and-exchange circuits coupled to network circuitry to implement a vector sorting tree for a vector sorting instruction. Each of the compare-and-exchange circuits has a respective comparison circuit that compares a pair of inputs. Each of the compare-and-exchange circuits have a same sided first output for presenting a higher of the two inputs and a same sided second output for presenting a lower of the two inputs, said comparison circuit to also support said functional unit's execution of a prefix min and/or prefix add instruction.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
a functional unit of an instruction execution pipeline comprising a plurality of compare-and-exchange circuits in parallel and coupled to network circuitry to execute a single vector sorting instruction to sort an input operand of one or more vectors into numerical order, each of said compare-and-exchange circuits having a respective comparison circuit that compares a pair of inputs, each of said compare-and-exchange circuits having a first output for presenting a higher of the pair of inputs and a second output for presenting a lower of the pair of inputs; and a memory circuit containing microcode that provides control signals to said network circuitry to loopback each output of the plurality of compare-and-exchange circuits into the plurality of compare-and-exchange circuits until each vector of an input operand of a plurality of vectors is sorted.