An electronic apparatus and a method for reducing the number of commands are provided. The electronic apparatus includes a central processor and a co-processor. The central processor generates a plurality of original register setting commands to set at least one bit of at least one register of the co-processor. The original register setting commands include a plurality of first original register setting commands, and a plurality of setting targets of the first original register setting commands have address continuity. The central processor merges the first original register setting commands to generate at least one merged register setting command. The central processor transmits the at least one merged register setting command to the co-processor.

A microprocessor system comprises a vector computational unit and a control unit. The vector computational unit includes a plurality of processing elements. The control unit is configured to provide at least a single processor instruction to the vector computational unit. The single processor instruction specifies a plurality of component instructions to be executed by the vector computational unit in response to the single processor instruction and each of the plurality of processing elements of the vector computational unit is configured to process different data elements in parallel with other processing elements in response to the single processor instruction.

In one embodiment, an apparatus includes: a plurality of execution circuits to execute and instruct micro-operations (μops), where a subset of the plurality of execution circuits are capable of execution of a fused μop; a fusion circuit coupled to at least the subset of the plurality of execution circuits, wherein the fusion circuit is to fuse at least some pairs of producer-consumer μops into fused μops; and a fusion throttle circuit coupled to the fusion circuit, wherein the fusion throttle circuit is to prevent a first μop from being fused with another μop based at least in part on historical information associated with the first μop. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

In a very long instruction word (VLIW) central processing unit instructions are grouped into execute packets that execute in parallel. A constant may be specified or extended by bits in a constant extension instruction in the same execute packet. If an instruction includes an indication of constant extension, the decoder employs bits of a constant extension instruction to extend the constant of an immediate field. Two or more constant extension slots are permitted in each execute packet, each extending constants for a different predetermined subset of functional unit instructions. In an alternative embodiment, more than one functional unit may have constants extended from the same constant extension instruction employing the same extended bits. A long extended constant may be formed using the extension bits of two constant extension instructions.

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for controlling execution of memory access instructions in a block-based processor architecture using a hardware structure that indicates a relative ordering of memory access instruction in an instruction block. In one example of the disclosed technology, a method of executing an instruction block having a plurality of memory load and/or memory store instructions includes selecting a next memory load or memory store instruction to execute based on dependencies encoded within the block, and on a store vector that stores data indicating which memory load and memory store instructions in the instruction block have executed. The store vector can be masked using a store mask. The store mask can be generated when decoding the instruction block, or copied from an instruction block header. Based on the encoded dependencies and the masked store vector, the next instruction can issue when its dependencies are available.

A method includes asserting a field of an event flag mask register configured to inhibit an event handler. The method also includes, responsive to an event that corresponds to the field of the event flag mask register being triggered: asserting a field of an event flag register associated with the event; and based the field in the event flag register being asserted, taking an action by a task being executed by the data processor core.

VLIW directed Power Management is described. In accordance with described techniques, a program is compiled to generate instructions for execution by a very long instruction word machine. During the compiling, power configurations for the very long instruction word machine to execute the instructions are determined, and fields of the instructions are populated with the power configurations. In one or more implementations, an instruction that includes a power configuration for the very long instruction word machine and operations for execution by the very long instruction word machine is obtained. A power setting of the very long instruction word machine is adjusted based on the power configuration of the instruction, and the operations of the instruction are executed by the very long instruction word machine.

A system and method for efficiently processing instructions in hardware parallel execution lanes within a processor. In response to a given divergent point within an identified loop, a compiler arranges instructions within the identified loop into very large instruction words (VLIW's). At least one VLIW includes instructions intermingled from different basic blocks between the given divergence point and a corresponding convergence point. The compiler generates code wherein when executed assigns at runtime instructions within a given VLIW to multiple parallel execution lanes within a target processor. The target processor includes a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) micro-architecture. The assignment for a given lane is based on branch direction found at runtime for the given lane at the given divergent point. The target processor includes a vector register for storing indications indicating which given instruction within a fetched VLIW for an associated lane to execute.

In one embodiment, a system includes a memory and a processor core. The processor core includes functional units and an instruction decode unit configured to determine whether an execute packet of instructions received by the processing core includes a first instruction that is designated for execution by a first functional unit of the functional units and a second instruction that is a condition code extension instruction that includes a plurality of sets of condition code bits, wherein each set of condition code bits corresponds to a different one of the functional units, and wherein the sets of condition code bits include a first set of condition code bits that corresponds to the first functional unit. When the execute packet includes the first and second instructions, the first functional unit is configured to execute the first instruction conditionally based upon the first set of condition code bits in the second instruction.

A device for controlling neural inference processor cores is provided, including a compound instruction set architecture. The device comprises an instruction memory, which comprises a plurality of instructions for controlling a neural inference processor core. Each of the plurality of instructions comprises a control operation. The device further comprises a program counter. The device further comprises at least one loop counter register. The device is adapted to execute the plurality of instructions. Executing the plurality of instructions comprises: reading an instruction from the instruction memory based on a value of the program counter; updating the at least one loop counter register according to the control operation of the instruction; and updating the program counter according to the control operation of the instruction and a value of the at least one loop counter register.