Advanced Micro Devices Corporation

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Fred Weber

Stuart F Oberman

Norbert Juffa

Krishnan V Ramani

Andrew John Tomlin

Ravi Krishna Cherukuri

Ravi Krishna

In one embodiment, a distributed storage system comprises: a plurality of appliances, a distributed multimode storage management coordinator, and a communication mechanism for communicating distributed multimode storage management messages. A first one of the plurality of appliances can include: a plurality of storage devices that have a first storage partition including a first type of interface and a first information storage region and a second storage partition including a selective underlying exposure (SUE) interface and a second information storage region that stores a second type of information, wherein the SUE interface exposes an aspect of the second information storage region. The distributed multimode storage management coordinator can include a plurality of multimode storage management systems that direct conveyance of information to the plurality of storage devices, wherein the coordinator includes a multiple mode SUE management system that directs file activities of the second partitions via the SUE interface.

Distributed multimode storage management

A multimedia execution unit configured to perform vectored floating point and integer instructions. The execution unit may include an add/subtract pipeline having far and close data paths. The far path is configured to handle effective addition operations and effective subtraction operations for operands having an absolute exponent difference greater than one. The close path is configured to handle effective subtraction operations for operands having an absolute exponent difference less than or equal to one. The close path is configured to generate two output values, wherein one output value is the first input operand plus an inverted version of the second input operand, while the second output value is equal to the first output value plus one. Selection of the first or second output value in the close path effectuates the round-to-nearest operation for the output of the adder.

Floating point addition pipeline including extreme value, comparison and accumulate functions

A multimedia execution unit configured to perform vectored floating point and integer instructions. The execution unit may include an add/subtract pipeline having far and close data paths. The far path is configured to handle effective addition operations and effective subtraction operations for operands having an absolute exponent difference greater than one. The close path is configured to handle effective subtraction operations for operands having an absolute exponent difference less than or equal to one. The close path is configured to generate two output values, wherein one output value is the first input operand plus an inverted version of the second input operand, while the second output value is equal to the first output value plus one. Selection of the first or second output value in the close path effectuates the round-to-nearest operation for the output of the adder. The execution unit may be configured to perform vectored addition and subtraction, integer/floating point conversion, reverse subtraction, accumulate, extreme value (minimum/maximum), and comparison instructions.

A multiplier configured to obtain higher frequencies of exactly rounded results by adding an adjustment constant to intermediate products generated during iterative multiplication operations is disclosed. One such iterative multiplication operation is the Newton-Raphson iteration, which may be utilized by the multiplier to perform reciprocal calculations and reciprocal square root calculations. For each iteration, the results converge toward an infinitely precise result. To improve the frequency of the exactly rounded result, the results of the iterative calculations may be studied for a large number of differing input operands to determine the best suited value for the adjustment constant. The multiplier may also be configured to perform scalar and packed vector multiplication using the same hardware.

Method and apparatus for achieving higher frequencies of exactly rounded

A processor capable of efficiently evaluating constant powers of an operand such as the reciprocal and reciprocal square root is disclosed. The processor comprises a multiplier that is configured to perform iterative multiplication operations to evaluate constant powers of an operand such as the reciprocal and reciprocal square root. Intermediate products that are formed may be rounded and normalized in two paths, one assuming an overflow will occur, and then compressed and stored for use in the next iteration. The processor comprises a multiplier capable of performing signed and unsigned scalar and vector multiplication is disclosed. The multiplier may performing rounded by adding a rounding constant.

Method and apparatus for calculating reciprocals and reciprocal square

A processor capable of efficiently performing iterative calculations is disclosed. The processor comprises a multiplier that is configured to perform iterative multiplication operations to evaluate constant powers of an operand such as the reciprocal and reciprocal square root. Intermediate products that are formed are compressed and decompressed to reduce interim storage requirements. The intermediate products may be rounded and normalized in two paths, one assuming an overflow will occur, and then compressed and stored for use in the next iteration.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Fred Weber