Structured programming control flow using a disable mask in a SIMD architecture

摘要

One embodiment of a computing system configured to manage divergent threads in a SIMD thread group includes a stack configured to store state information for processing control instructions. A parallel processing unit is configured to perform the steps of determining if one or more threads diverge during execution of a conditional control instruction. Threads that exit a program are identified as idle by a disable mask. Other threads that are disabled may be enabled once the divergent threads reach an instruction that enables the disabled threads. Use of the disable mask allows for the use of conditional return and break instructions in a multithreaded SIMD architecture.