Instruction set for eliminating misaligned memory accesses during processing of an array having misaligned data rows

Abstract

A processor is described having an instruction execution pipeline. The instruction execution pipeline includes an instruction fetch stage to fetch an instruction. The instruction format of the instruction specifies a first input vector, a second input vector and a third input operand. The instruction execution pipeline comprises an instruction decode stage to decode the instruction. The instruction execution pipeline includes a functional unit to execute the instruction. The functional unit includes a routing network to route a first contiguous group of elements from a first end of one of the input vectors to a second end of the instruction's resultant vector, and, route a second contiguous group of elements from a second end of the other of the input vectors to a first end of the instruction's resultant vector. The first and second ends are opposite vector ends. The first and second groups of contiguous elements are defined from the third input operand. The instruction is not capable of routing non-contiguous groups of elements from the input vectors to the instruction's resultant vector. A software pipeline that uses the instruction is also described.