C++ Classes and SIMD Operations

The use of C++ classes for SIMD operations is based on the concept of operating on arrays, or vectors of data, in parallel. Consider the addition of two vectors, A and B, where each vector contains four elements. Using the integer vector (Ivec) class, the elements A[i] and B[i] from each array are summed as shown in the following example.

Typical Method of Adding Elements Using a Loop

short a[4], b[4], c[4];
for (i=0; i<4; i++) /* needs four iterations */
c[i] = a[i] + b[i]; /* returns c[0], c[1], c[2], c[3] *

The following example shows the same results using one operation with Ivec Classes.

SIMD Method of Adding Elements Using Ivec Classes

sIs16vec4 ivecA, ivecB, ivec C; /*needs one iteration */
ivecC = ivecA + ivecB; /*returns ivecC0, ivecC1, ivecC2, ivecC3 */

Available Classes

The Intel C++ SIMD classes provide parallelism, which is not easily implemented using typical mechanisms of C++. The following table shows how the Intel C++ SIMD classes use the classes and libraries.

SIMD Vector Classes

Instruction Set	Class	Signedness	Data Type	Size	Elements	Header File
MMX(TM) technology (available for IA-32- and Itanium®-based systems)	I64vec1	unspecified	__m64	64	1	ivec.h
	I32vec2	unspecified	int	32	2	ivec.h
	Is32vec2	signed	int	32	2	ivec.h
	Iu32vec2	unsigned	int	32	2	ivec.h
	I16vec4	unspecified	short	16	4	ivec.h
	Is16vec4	signed	short	16	4	ivec.h
	Iu16vec4	unsigned	short	16	4	ivec.h
	I8vec8	unspecified	char	8	8	ivec.h
	Is8vec8	signed	char	8	8	ivec.h
	Iu8vec8	unsigned	char	8	8	ivec.h
Streaming SIMD Extensions (available for IA-32 and Itanium-based systems)	F32vec4	signed	float	32	4	fvec.h
	F32vec1	signed	float	32	1	fvec.h
Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 (available for IA-32-based systems only)	F64vec2	signed	double	64	2	dvec.h
	I128vec1	unspecified	__m128i	128	1	dvec.h
	I64vec2	unspecified	long int	64	4	dvec.h
	Is64vec2	signed	long int	64	4	dvec.h
	Iu64vec2	unsigned	long int	32	4	dvec.h
	I32vec4	unspecified	int	32	4	dvec.h
	Is32vec4	signed	int	32	4	dvec.h
	Iu32vec4	unsigned	int	32	4	dvec.h
	I16vec8	unspecified	int	16	8	dvec.h
	Is16vec8	signed	int	16	8	dvec.h
	Iu16vec8	unsigned	int	16	8	dvec.h
	I8vec16	unspecified	char	8	16	dvec.h
	Is8vec16	signed	char	8	16	dvec.h
	Iu8vec16	unsigned	char	8	16	dvec.h

Most classes contain similar functionality for all data types and are represented by all available intrinsics. However, some capabilities do not translate from one data type to another without suffering from poor performance, and are therefore excluded from individual classes.

Note

Intrinsics that take immediate values and cannot be expressed easily in classes are not implemented.
(For example, _mm_shuffle_ps, _mm_shuffle_pi16, _mm_extract_pi16, _mm_insert_pi16).

Access to Classes Using Header Files

The required class header files are installed in the include directory with the Intel® C++ Compiler. To enable the classes, use the #include directive in your program file as shown in the table that follows.

Include Directives for Enabling Classes

Instruction Set Extension	Include Directive
MMX Technology	#include <ivec.h>
Streaming SIMD Extensions	#include <fvec.h>
Streaming SIMD Extensions 2	#include <dvec.h>

Each succeeding file from the top down includes the preceding class. You only need to include fvec.h if you want to use both the Ivec and Fvec classes. Similarly, to use all the classes including those for the Streaming SIMD Extensions 2, you need only to include the dvec.h file.

Usage Precautions

When using the C++ classes, you should follow some general guidelines. More detailed usage rules for each class are listed in Integer Vector Classes, and Floating-point Vector Classes.

Clear MMX Registers

If you use both the Ivec and Fvec classes at the same time, your program could mix MMX instructions, called by Ivec classes, with Intel x87 architecture floating-point instructions, called by Fvec classes. Floating-point instructions exist in the following Fvec functions:

fvec constructors
debug functions (cout and element access)
rsqrt_nr

Note

MMX registers are aliased on the floating-point registers, so you should clear the MMX state with the EMMS instruction intrinsic before issuing an x87 floating-point instruction, as in the following example.

ivecA = ivecA & ivecB;	/* Ivec logical operation that uses MMX instructions */
empty ();	/* clear state */
cout << f32vec4a;	/* F32vec4 operation that uses x87 floating-point instructions */

Caution

Failure to clear the MMX registers can result in incorrect execution or poor performance due to an incorrect register state.

Follow EMMS Instruction Guidelines

Intel strongly recommends that you follow the guidelines for using the EMMS instruction. Refer to this topic before coding with the Ivec classes.