摘要:
An array processor includes processing elements arranged in clusters to form a rectangular array. Inter-cluster communication paths are mutually exclusive. Due to the mutual exclusivity of the data paths, communications between the processing elements of each cluster may be combined in a single inter-cluster path, thus eliminating half the wiring required for the path. The length of the longest communication path is not directly determined by the overall dimension of the array, as in conventional torus arrays. Rather, the longest communications path is limited by the inter-cluster spacing. Transpose elements of an N×N torus may be combined in clusters and communicate with one another through intra-cluster communications paths. Transpose operation latency is eliminated in this approach. Each PE may have a single transmit port and a single receive port. Thus, the individual PEs are decoupled from the array topology.
摘要:
A system core having an internal memory which transfers data from an external device to the internal memory is described. To this end, the system core includes a processor, a direct memory access (DMA) controller, an instruction memory and a plurality of memories. The instruction memory contains processor instructions and DMA instructions. The DMA controller fetches DMA instructions from the instruction memory. The DMA controller executes the fetched DMA instructions and thus populates the plurality of memories with data from the external device. The processor then operates on the data found in the populated memories.
摘要:
Details of a highly cost effective and efficient implementation of a manifold array (ManArray) architecture and instruction syntax for use therewith are described herein. Various aspects of this approach include the regularity of the syntax, the relative ease with which the instruction set can be represented in database form, the ready ability with which tools can be created, the ready generation of self-checking codes and parameterized test cases. Parameterizations can be fairly easily mapped and system maintenance is significantly simplified.
摘要:
Details of a highly cost effective and efficient implementation of a manifold array (ManArray) architecture and instruction syntax for use therewith are described herein. Various aspects of this approach include the regularity of the syntax, the relative ease with which the instruction set can be represented in database form, the ready ability with which tools can be created, the ready generation of self-checking codes and parameterized test cases. Parameterizations can be fairly easily mapped and system maintenance is significantly simplified.
摘要:
An improved manifold array (ManArray) architecture addresses the problem of configurable application-spacific instruction set optimization and instruction memory reduction using an instruction abbreviation process thereby further optimizing the general ManArray architecture for application to high-volume and portablke battery-powered type of products.In the ManArray abbreviation process a standard 32-bit ManArray instruction is reduced to a smaller length instruction format, such as 14-bits. An application is first programmed using the full ManArray instruction set using the native 32-bit instructions. After the application program is completed and verified, an instruction-abbreviation tool analyzes the 32-bit application program and generates the abbreviated program using the abbreviated instructions. This instruction abbreviation process allows different program-reduction optimizations tailored for each application program. This process develops an optimized instruction set for the intended application. The abbreviated program, now located in a significantly smaller instruction memory, is functionally equivalent to the original native 32-bit application program. The abbreviated-instructions are fetched from this smaller memory and then dynamically translated into native ManArray instruction form in a sequence processor controller. Since the instruction set is now determined for the specific application. an optimized processor design can be easily produced. The system and process can be applied to native instructions having other numbers of bits and to other processing architectures.
摘要:
An array processor includes processing elements (00, 01, 02, 03, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33) arranged in clusters (e.g., 44, 46, 48, 50) to form a rectangular array (40). Inter-cluster communication paths (88) are mutually exclusive. Due to the mutual exclusivity of the data paths, communications between the processing elements of each cluster may be combined in a single inter-cluster path, thus eliminating half the wiring required for the path. The length of the longest communication path is not directly determined by the overall dimension of the array, as in conventional torus arrays. Rather, the longest communications path is limited by the inter-cluster spacing. Transpose elements of an N×N torus may be combined in clusters and communicate with one another through intra-cluster communications paths. Transpose operation latency is eliminated in this approach. Each PE may have a single transmit port (35) and a single receive port (37). Thus, the individual PEs are decoupled from the array topology.
摘要:
An eventpoint chaining apparatus for generalized event detection and action specification in a processing environment is described. In one aspect, the eventpoint chaining apparatus includes a first processor which has a programmable eventpoint module with an input trigger (InTrig) input. The first processing element detects an occurrence of a first processor event (p-event) and produces an OutTrigger (OT) signal. The eventpoint chaining apparatus also includes a second processor which has a programmable eventpoint module with an input trigger (InTrig) input which receives the OT signal from the first processing element. The second processing element detects an occurrence of a second p-event and produces, in response to the OT signal received from the first processing element and the detection of a second p-event, an eventpoint (EP) interrupt signal. The eventpoint chaining apparatus also includes a sequence processor interrupt control unit for receiving the EP interrupt signals indicating the occurrence of both the first and second p-events and causing a p-action in response to the occurrence of both the first and second p-events.
摘要:
An array of processing elements (PEs) is logically twisted in a first direction, wrapped to form a cylindrical array, and grouped in a second direction to determine PEs that are to be located in clusters and implemented to form physical clusters of PEs. Inter-cluster communication paths are mutually exclusive. Due to the mutual exclusivity of the data paths, communications between the processing elements of each cluster may be combined in a single inter-cluster path, thus eliminating half the wiring required for the path. The length of the longest communication path is not directly determined by the overall dimension of the array, as in conventional torus arrays. Rather, the longest communications path is limited by the inter-cluster spacing. Transpose elements of an N×N torus may be combined in clusters and communicate with one another through intra-cluster communications paths. Transpose operation latency is eliminated in this approach. Each PE may have a single transmit port and a single receive port. Thus, the individual PEs are decoupled from the array topology.
摘要:
General purpose flags (ACFs) are defined and encoded utilizing a hierarchical one-, two- or three-bit encoding. Each added bit provides a superset of the previous functionality. With condition combination, a sequential series of conditional branches based on complex conditions may be avoided and complex conditions can then be used for conditional execution. ACF generation and use can be specified by the programmer. By varying the number of flags affected, conditional operation parallelism can be widely varied, for example, from mono-processing to octal-processing in VLIW execution, and across an array of processing elements (PE)s. Multiple PEs can generate condition information at the same time with the programmer being able to specify a conditional execution in one processor based upon a condition generated in a different processor using the communications interface between the processing elements to transfer the conditions. Each processor in a multiple processor array may independently have different units conditionally operate based upon their ACFs.
摘要:
Details of a highly cost effective and efficient implementation of a manifold array (ManArray) architecture and instruction syntax for use therewith are described herein. Various aspects of this approach include the regularity of the syntax, the relative ease with which the instruction set can be represented in database form, the ready ability with which tools can be created, the ready generation of self-checking codes and parameterized test cases. Parameterizations can be fairly easily mapped and system maintenance is significantly simplified.