Data processing apparatus and method for generating a status flag using predicate indicators

• Main Authors: Burgess, Neil, Gorman, Gary Alan, Eisen, Lee Evan, Arulraj, Daniel
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 03.08.2021
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; COUNTING; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; PHYSICS

Data processing apparatus comprises processing circuitry to selectively apply vector processing operations to one or more data items of one or more data vectors each comprising an ordered plurality of data items at respective vector positions in the data vector, according to the state of respective predicate indicators associated with the vector positions; predicate generation circuitry to apply a processing operation to generate an ordered set of predicate indicators, each associated with a respective one of the vector positions, the ordered set of predicate indicators being associated with an ordered set of active indicators each having an active or an inactive state; and a detector to detect a status flag indicative of whether a predicate indicator at a position, in the ordered set of predicate indicators, corresponding to the position of an outermost active indicator having the active state, has a given state; in which the detector comprises: first and second circuitry to combine the ordered set of predicate indicators and the ordered set of active indicators using first and second respective logical bit-wise combinations to generate first and second ordered sets of intermediate data; and arithmetic circuitry to combine the first and second ordered sets of intermediate data using an arithmetic combination generating a carry bit, the detector generating the status flag in dependence upon the carry bit.