# Bit ordering.
-IBM chose MSB0 for the OpenPOWER v3.0B specification. This makes things slightly hair-raising. Our model initially therefore to follow the logical progression from the defined behaviour of `mtcr` and `mfcr` etc.
+IBM chose MSB0 for the OpenPOWER v3.0B specification. This makes things slightly hair-raising. Our desire initially is therefore to follow the logical progression from the defined behaviour of `mtcr` and `mfcr` etc.
In [[isa/sprset]] we see the pseudocode for `mtcrf` for example:
mtcrf FXM,RS
if FXM[n] = 1 then
CR[4*n+32:4*n+35] <- (RS)[4*n+32:4*n+35]
-This places (according to a mask schedule) `CR0` into MSB0-numbered bits 32-35 of the target Integer register `RS`, these bits of `RS` being the 31st down to the 28th. Unfortunately, even when not Vectorised, this inserts CR numbering inversions on each batch of 8 CRs, massively complicating matters.
+This places (according to a mask schedule) `CR0` into MSB0-numbered bits 32-35 of the target Integer register `RS`, these bits of `RS` being the 31st down to the 28th. Unfortunately, even when not Vectorised, this inserts CR numbering inversions on each batch of 8 CRs, massively complicating matters. Predication when using CRs would have to be morphed to this (unacceptably complex) behaviour:
-In other words unless we do something about this, when we transger bits from an Integer Predicate into a Vector of CRs, our numbering of CRs, when enumerating them in a CR Vector, would be CR7 CR6 CR5.... CR0 **CR15** CR14 CR13... CR8 **CR23** CR22 etc. **not** CR0 CR1 ... CR23.
+ for i in range(VL):
+ n = (7-(i%8)) | (i & ~0x7) # total mess
+ CRpredicate = CR{n} # select CR0, CR1, ....
+ predbit = CRpredicate[offs] # select eq..ov bit
+
+Which is nowhere close to matching the straightforward obvious case:
+
+ for i in range(VL):
+ if INTpredmode:
+ predbit = (r3)[63-i] # IBM MSB0 spec sigh
+ else:
+ CRpredicate = CR{i} # start at CR0, work up
+ predbit = CRpredicate[offs]
+
+In other words unless we do something about this, when we transfer bits from an Integer Predicate into a Vector of CRs, our numbering of CRs, when enumerating them in a CR Vector, would be **CR7** CR6 CR5.... CR0 **CR15** CR14 CR13... CR8 **CR23** CR22 etc. **not** the more natural and obvious CR0 CR1 ... CR23.
Therefore the instructions below need to **redefine** the relationship so that CR numbers (CR0, CR1) sequentially match the arithmetically-ordered bits of Integer registers. By `arithmetic` this is deduced from the fact that the ibsteuction `addi r3, r0, 1` it will result in the **LSB** (numbered 63 in IBM MSB0 order) of r3 being set to 1 and all other bits,set to zero. We therefore refer, below, to this LSB as "Arithmetic bit 0", and it is this bit which is used - defined - as being the first bit used in predication (on element 0).