* <http://lists.libre-soc.org/pipermail/libre-soc-dev/2021-August/003416.html>
* [[openpower/isa/branch]]
+# Rationale
+
Scalar 3.0B Branch Conditional operations, `bc`, `bctar` etc. test a
-Condition Register. When doing so in a Vector Context, it is quite
-reasonable and logical to test and Branch on a *Vector* of CR Fields
-which have just been calculated from a *Vector* of results. In 3D Shader
+Condition Register. However for parallel processing it is simply impossible
+to perform multiple independent branches: the Program Counter simply
+cannot branch to multiple destinations based on multiple conditions.
+The best that can be done is
+to test multiple Conditions and make a decision of a *single* branch,
+based on analysis of a *Vector* of CR Fields
+which have just been calculated from a *Vector* of results.
+
+In 3D Shader
binaries, which are inherently parallelised and predicated, testing all or
some results and branching based on multiple tests is extremely common,
-and a fundamental part of Shader Compilers. Therefore, `sv.bc` and
+and a fundamental part of Shader Compilers. Example:
+without such multi-condition
+test-and-branch, if a predicate mask is all zeros a large batch of
+instructions may be masked out to `nop`, and it would waste
+CPU cycles not only to run them but also to load the predicate
+mask repeatedly for each one. 3D GPU ISAs can test for this scenario
+and jump over the fully-masked-out operations, by spotting that
+*all* Conditions are false. Or, conversely, they only call the function if at least
+one Condition is set.
+Therefore, in order to be commercially competitive, `sv.bc` and
other Vector-aware Branch Conditional instructions are a high priority
-for 3D GPUs.
+for 3D GPU workloads.
-The `BI` field of Branch Conditional operations is five bits, in scalar
-v3.0B this would select one bit of the 32 bit CR. In SVP64 there are
-16 32 bit CRs, containing 128 4-bit CR Fields. Therefore, the 2 LSBs of
-`BI` select the bit from the CR Field (EQ LT GT SO), and the top 3 bits
-are extended to either scalar or vector and to select CR Fields 0..127
-as specified in SVP64 [[sv/svp64/appendix]]
+Given that Power ISA v3.0B is already quite powerful, particularly
+the Condition Registers and their interaction with Branches, there
+are opportunities to create an extremely flexible and compact
+Vectorised Branch behaviour. In addition, the side-effects (updating
+of CTR, truncation of VL, described below) make it a useful instruction
+even if the branch points to the next instruction (no actual branch).
-When considering an "array" of branches, there are four useful modes:
+# Overview
+
+When considering an "array" of branch-tests, there are four useful modes:
AND, OR, NAND and NOR of all Conditions.
NAND and NOR may be synthesised by
inverting `BO[2]` which just leaves two modes:
-* Branch takes place on the first CR test to succeed
+* Branch takes place on the first CR Field test to succeed
(a Great Big OR of all condition tests)
-* Branch takes place only if **all** CR tests succeed:
+* Branch takes place only if **all** CR field tests succeed:
a Great Big AND of all condition tests
(including those where the predicate is masked out
and the corresponding CR Field is considered to be
set to `SNZ`)
+Early-exit is enacted such that the Vectorised Branch does not
+perform needless extra tests, which will help reduce reads on
+the Condition Register file.
+
+Additional useful behaviour involves two primary Modes (both of
+which may be enabled and combined):
+
+* **VLSET Mode**: identical to Data-Dependent Fail-First Mode
+ for Arithmetic SVP64 operations, with more
+ flexibility and a close interaction and integration into the
+ underlying base Scalar v3.0B Branch instruction.
+* **CTR-test Mode**: gives much more flexibility over when and why
+ CTR is decremented, including options to decrement if a Condition
+ test succeeds *or if it fails*.
+
+With these side-effects, basic Boolean Logic Analysis advises thay
+it is important to provide a means
+to enact them each based on whether testing succeeds *or fails*. This
+results in a not-insignificant number of additional Mode Augmentation bits,
+accompanying VLSET and CTR-test Modes respectively.
+
+It is also important to note that Vectorised Branches can be used
+in either SVP64 Horizontal-First or Vertical-First Mode. Essentially
+the behaviour is identical in both Modes.
+
+It is also important
+to bear in mind that, fundamentally, Vectorised Branch-Conditional
+is still extremely close to the Scalar v3.0B Branch-Conditional
+instructions, and that the same v3.0B Scalar Branch-Conditional
+instructions are still
+*completely separate and independent*, being unaltered and
+unaffected by their SVP64 variants in every conceivable way.
+
+# Format and fields
+
+SVP64 RM `MODE` (includes `ELWIDTH` and `ELWIDTH_SRC` bits) for Branch
+Conditional:
+
+| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 23 | description |
+| - | - | - | - | -- | -- | --- |---------|----------------- |
+|ALL|LRu| / | / | 0 | 0 | / | SNZ sz | normal mode |
+|ALL|LRu| / |VSb| 0 | 1 | VLI | SNZ sz | VLSET mode |
+|ALL|LRu|CTi| / | 1 | 0 | / | SNZ sz | CTR-test mode |
+|ALL|LRu|CTi|VSb| 1 | 1 | VLI | SNZ sz | CTR-test+VLSET mode |
+
+Brief description of fields:
+
+* **sz** if predication is enabled will put 4 copies of `SNZ` in place of
+ the src CR Field when the predicate bit is zero. otherwise the element
+ is ignored or skipped, depending on context.
+* **ALL** when set, all branch conditional tests must pass in order for
+ the branch to succeed. When clear, it is the first sequentially
+ encountered successful test that causes the branch to succeed.
+ This is identical behaviour to how programming languages perform
+ early-exit on Boolean Logic chains.
+* **VLI** VLSET is identical to Data-dependent Fail-First mode.
+ In VLSET mode, VL is set equal (truncated) to the first point
+ where, assuming Conditions are tested sequentially, the branch succeeds
+ *or fails* depending if VSb is set.
+ If VLI (Vector Length Inclusive) is clear,
+ VL is truncated to *exclude* the current element, otherwise it is
+ included. SVSTATE.MVL is not changed: only VL.
+* **LRu**: Link Register Update. When set, Link Register will
+ only be updated if the Branch Condition succeeds. This avoids
+ destruction of LR during loops (particularly Vertical-First
+ ones).
+* **VSb** is most relevant for Vertical-First VLSET Mode. After testing,
+ if VSb is set, VL is truncated if the branch succeeds. If VSb is clear,
+ VL is truncated if the branch did **not** take place.
+* **CTi** CTR inversion. CTR-test Mode normally decrements per element
+ tested. CTR inversion decrements if a test *fails*. Only relevant
+ in CTR-test Mode.
+
+# Vectorised CR Field numbering, and Scalar behaviour
+
+It is important to keep in mind that just like all SVP64 instructions,
+the `BI` field of the base v3.0B Branch Conditional instruction
+may be extended by SVP64 EXTRA augmentation, as well as be marked
+as either Scalar or Vector.
+
+The `BI` field of Branch Conditional operations is five bits, in scalar
+v3.0B this would select one bit of the 32 bit CR,
+comprising eight CR Fields of 4 bits each. In SVP64 there are
+16 32 bit CRs, containing 128 4-bit CR Fields. Therefore, the 2 LSBs of
+`BI` select the bit from the CR Field (EQ LT GT SO), and the top 3 bits
+are extended to either scalar or vector and to select CR Fields 0..127
+as specified in SVP64 [[sv/svp64/appendix]].
+
+When the CR Fields selected by SVP64-Augmented `BI` is marked as scalar,
+then as the usual SVP64 rules apply:
+the loop ends at the first element tested, after taking
+predication into consideration. Thus, also as usual, when a predicate mask is
+given, and `BI` marked as scalar, and `sz` is zero, srcstep
+skips forward to the first non-zero predicated element, and only that
+one element is tested.
+
+In other words, the fact that this is a Branch
+Operation (instead of an arithmetic one) does not result, ultimately,
+in significant changes as to
+how SVP64 is fundamentally applied, except with respect to early-out
+opportunities and CTR-testing, which are outlined below.
+
+# Description and Modes
+
In SVP64 Horizontal-First Mode, the first failure in ALL mode (Great Big
AND) results in early exit: no more updates to CTR occur (if requested);
no branch occurs, and LR is not updated (if requested). Likewise for
Vector Processing. The reason is to have strictly-defined guaranteed
behaviour*)
-In Vertical-First Mode, the `ALL` bit still applies, but to the elements
-that are executed up to the Hint length, in parallel batches. See
-[[sv/setvl]] for the definition of Vertical-First Hint.
-
-In `svstep` mode, srcstep and dststep are incremented, and then
-tested exactly as in [[sv/svstep]]. When Rc=1 the test results
-are wtitten into the whole CR Field (the exact same one
-about to be tested by the Branch Condition). Following the svstep
-update, the
-Branch Conditional instruction proceeds as normal (reading and testing
-the CR bit just updated, if the relevant `BO` bit is set). Note that
-the SVSTATE srcstep and dststep fields are still updated
-and the CR field still updated, even if `BO[0]` is set.
+In Vertical-First Mode, setting the `ALL` bit results in `UNDEFINED`
+behaviour. Given that only one element is being tested at a time
+in Vertical-First Mode, a test designed to be done on multiple
+bits is meaningless.
Predication in both INT and CR modes may be applied to `sv.bc` and other
SVP64 Branch Conditional operations, exactly as they may be applied to
other SVP64 operations. When `sz` is zero, any masked-out Branch-element
-operations are not executed, exactly like all other SVP64 operations.
-
-However when `sz` is non-zero, this normally requests insertion of a zero
+operations are not included in condition testing, exactly like all other
+SVP64 operations, *including* side-effects such as potentially updating
+LR or CTR, which will also be skipped. There is *one* exception here,
+which is when
+`BO[2]=0, sz=0, CTR-test=0, CTi=1` and the relevant element
+predicate mask bit is also zero:
+under these special circumstances CTR will also decrement.
+
+When `sz` is non-zero, this normally requests insertion of a zero
in place of the input data, when the relevant predicate mask bit is zero.
This would mean that a zero is inserted in place of `CR[BI+32]` for
testing against `BO`, which may not be desirable in all circumstances.
Therefore, an extra field is provided `SNZ`, which, if set, will insert
-a **one** in place of a masked-out element instead of a zero.
+a **one** in place of a masked-out element, instead of a zero.
(*Note: Both options are provided because it is useful to deliberately
cause the Branch-Conditional Vector testing to fail at a specific point,
mode, which will truncate SVSTATE.VL at the point of the first failed
test.*)
-SVP64 RM `MODE` (includes `ELWIDTH` and `ELWIDTH_SRC` bits) for Branch Conditional:
-
-| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 23 | description |
-| - | - | - | - | -- | -- | --- |---------|-------------------- |
-|ALL|LRu| / | / | 0 | 0 | / | SNZ sz | normal mode |
-|ALL|LRu| / |VSb| 0 | 1 | VLI | SNZ sz | VLSET mode |
-|ALL|LRu|BRc| / | 1 | 0 | / | SNZ sz | svstep mode |
-|ALL|LRu|BRc|VSb| 1 | 1 | VLI | SNZ sz | svstep+VLSET mode |
-
-Fields:
-
-* **sz** if predication is enabled will put 4 copies of `SNZ` in place of
- the src CR Field when the predicate bit is zero. otherwise the element
- is ignored or skipped, depending on context.
-* **ALL** when set, all branch conditional tests must pass in order for
- the branch to succeed.
-* **VLI** Identical to Data-dependent Fail-First mode.
- In VLSET mode, VL is set equal (truncated) to the first point
- where, assuming Conditions are tested sequentially, the branch succeeds
- *or fails* depending if VSb is set.
- If VLI (Vector Length Inclusive) is clear,
- VL is truncated to *exclude* the current element, otherwise it is
- included. SVSTATE.MVL is not changed: only VL.
-* **LRu**: Link Register Update. When set, Link Register will
- only be updated if the Branch Condition succeeds. This avoids
- destruction of LR during loops (particularly Vertical-First
- ones).
-* **BRc** Branch variant of Rc. Instructs svstep testing to overwrite
- the CR Field about to be tested. Only takes effect in svstep mode
-* **VSb** is most relevant for Vertical-First VLSET Mode. After testing,
- if VSb is set, VL is truncated if the branch succeeds. If VSb is clear,
- VL is truncated if the branch did **not** take place.
-svstep mode will run an increment of SVSTATE srcstep and dststep
-(which is still useful in Horizontal First Mode). Unlike `svstep.`
-however which updates only CR0 with the testing of REMAP loop progress,
-the CR Field is taken from the branch `BI` field, and, if `BRc`
-is set, updated prior to
-proceeding to each element branch conditional testing.
-* This implies that the prior contents of the CR Vector are ignored*
-when `BRc` is set.
-
-Note that, interestingly, due to the useful side-effects of `VLSET` mode
-and `svstep` mode it is actually useful to use Branch Conditional even
+Normally, CTR mode will decrement once per Condition Test, resulting
+under normal circumstances that CTR reduces by up to VL in Horizontal-First
+Mode. Just as when v3.0B Branch-Conditional saves at
+least one instruction on tight inner loops through auto-decrementation
+of CTR, likewise it is also possible to save instruction count for
+SVP64 loops in both Vertical-First and Horizontal-First Mode, particularly
+in circumstances where there is conditional interaction between the
+element computation and testing, and the continuation (or otherwise)
+of a given loop. The potential combinations of interactions is why CTR
+testing options have been added.
+
+If both CTR-test and VLSET Modes are requested, then because the CTR decrement is on a per element basis, the total amount that CTR is decremented
+by will end up being VL *after* truncation (should that occur). In
+other words, the order is strictly (as can be seen in pseudocode, below):
+
+1. compute the test
+2. (optionally) decrement CTR
+3. (optionally) truncate VL
+4. decide (based on step 1) whether to terminate looping
+ (including not executing step 5)
+5. decide whether to branch.
+
+CTR-test mode and CTi interaction is as follows: note that
+`BO[2]` is still required to be clear for decrements to be
+considered.
+
+* **CTR-test=0, CTi=0**: CTR decrements on a per-element basis
+ if `BO[2]` is zero. Masked-out elements when `sz=0` are
+ skipped.
+* **CTR-test=0, CTi=1**: CTR decrements on a per-element basis
+ if `BO[2]` is zero and a masked-out element is skipped
+ (`sz=0` and predicate bit is zero). This one special case is the
+ **opposite** of other combinations.
+* **CTR-test=1, CTi=0**: CTR decrements on a per-element basis
+ if `BO[2]` is zero and the Condition Test succeeds.
+ Masked-out elements when `sz=0` are skipped.
+* **CTR-test=1, CTi=1**: CTR decrements on a per-element basis
+ if `BO[2]` is zero and the Condition Test *fails*.
+ Masked-out elements when `sz=0` are skipped.
+
+Note that, interestingly, due to the side-effects of `VLSET` mode
+it is actually useful to use Branch Conditional even
to perform no actual branch operation, i.e to point to the instruction
-after the branch.
-
-In particular, svstep mode is still useful for Horizontal-First Mode
-particularly in combination with REMAP. All "loop end" conditions
-will be tested on a per-element basis and placed into a Vector of CRs
-starting from the point specified by the Branch `BI` field. This Vector
-of CR Fields may then be subsequently used as a Predicate Mask, and,
-furthermore, if VLSET mode was requested, VL will have been set to the
-length of one of the loop endpoints, again as specified by the bit from
-the Branch `BI` field.
+after the branch. Truncation of VL would thus conditionally occur yet control
+flow alteration would not.
Also, the unconditional bit `BO[0]` is still relevant when Predication
is applied to the Branch because in `ALL` mode all nonmasked bits have
In short, Vectorised Branch becomes an extremely powerful tool.
`VLSET` mode with Vertical-First is particularly unusual. Vertical-First
-is used for explicit looping, where the looping is to terminate if
-the end of the Vector, VL, is reached. If however that loop is terminated
-early because VL is truncated, VLSET with Vertical-First becomes
-meaningless. Therefore, the option to decide whether truncation should
-occur if the branch succeeds *or* if the branch condition fails allows
-for flexibility required.
+is used for explicit looping, where the looping is to terminate if the end
+of the Vector, VL, is reached. If however that loop is terminated early
+because VL is truncated, VLSET with Vertical-First becomes meaningless.
+Therefore, with `VSb`, the option to decide whether truncation should occur if the
+branch succeeds *or* if the branch condition fails allows for flexibility
+required.
-`VLSET` mode with Horizontal-First when `VSb` is clear is still useful,
-because it can be used to truncate VL to the first predicated (non-masked-out)
-element.
+`VLSET` mode with Horizontal-First when `VSb` is clear is still
+useful, because it can be used to truncate VL to the first predicated
+(non-masked-out) element.
Available options to combine:
`OR` of all tests, respectively.
In addition to the above, it is necessary to select whether, in `svstep`
-mode, the Vector CR Field is to be overwritten or not: in some cases
-it is useful to know but in others all that is needed is the branch itself.
+mode, the Vector CR Field is to be overwritten or not: in some cases it
+is useful to know but in others all that is needed is the branch itself.
+
+*Programming note: One important point is that SVP64 instructions are 64 bit.
+(8 bytes not 4). This needs to be taken into consideration when computing
+branch offsets: the offset is relative to the start of the instruction,
+which includes the SVP64 Prefix*
+
+# Pseudocode and examples
Pseudocode for Horizontal-First Mode:
if predicate[srcstep]:
# get SVP64 extended CR field 0..127
SVCRf = SVP64EXTRA(BI>>2)
- if svstep_mode then
- new_srcstep, CRbits = SVSTATE_NEXT(srcstep)
- if BRc = 1 then # CR Vectorised overwritr
- CR{SVCRf+srcstep} = CRbits
- else
- CRbits = CR{SVCRf}
+ CRbits = CR{SVCRf}
testbit = CRbits[BI & 0b11]
# testbit = CR[BI+32+srcstep*4]
else if not SVRMmode.sz:
+ # inverted CTR test skip mode
+ if ¬BO[2] & CTRtest & ¬CTI then
+ CTR = CTR - 1
continue
else
testbit = SVRMmode.SNZ
else
if el_cond_ok:
break
- if svstep_mode then
- SVSTATE.srcstep = new_srcstep
+ if SVCRf.scalar:
+ break
```
Pseudocode for Vertical-First Mode:
```
# get SVP64 extended CR field 0..127
SVCRf = SVP64EXTRA(BI>>2)
-if svstep_mode then
- new_srcstep, CRbits = SVSTATE_NEXT(srcstep)
-else
- CRbits = CR{SVCRf}
+CRbits = CR{SVCRf}
# select predicate bit or zero/one
if predicate[srcstep]:
if BRc = 1 then # CR0 vectorised
CR{SVCRf+srcstep} = CRbits
testbit = CRbits[BI & 0b11]
else if not SVRMmode.sz:
+ # inverted CTR test skip mode
+ if ¬BO[2] & CTRtest & ¬CTI then
+ CTR = CTR - 1
SVSTATE.srcstep = new_srcstep
exit # no branch testing
else
SVSTATE.VL = new_srcstep+1
else
SVSTATE.VL = new_srcstep
-if svstep_mode then
- SVSTATE.srcstep = new_srcstep
+```
+
+v3.0B branch pseudocode including LRu and CTR skipping
+
+```
+if (mode_is_64bit) then M <- 0
+else M <- 32
+cond_ok <- BO[0] | ¬(CR[BI+32] ^ BO[1])
+ctrdec = ¬BO[2]
+if CTRtest & (cond_ok ^ CTi) then
+ ctrdec = 0b0
+if ctrdec then CTR <- CTR - 1
+ctr_ok <- BO[2] | ((CTR[M:63] != 0) ^ BO[3])
+lr_ok <- SVRMmode.LRu
+if ctr_ok & cond_ok then
+ if AA then NIA <-iea EXTS(BD || 0b00)
+ else NIA <-iea CIA + EXTS(BD || 0b00)
+ lr_ok <- 0b1
+if LK & lr_ok then LR <-iea CIA + 4
```
# Example Shader code
projects / libreriscv.git / blobdiff