DATA TYPES

4.6PACKED SIMD DATA TYPES

Intel 64 and IA-32 architectures define and operate on a set of 64-bit and 128-bit packed data type for use in SIMD operations. These data types consist of fundamental data types (packed bytes, words, doublewords, and quadwords) and numeric interpretations of fundamental types for use in packed integer and packed floatingpoint operations.

4.6.164-Bit SIMD Packed Data Types

The 64-bit packed SIMD data types were introduced into the IA-32 architecture in the Intel MMX technology. They are operated on in MMX registers. The fundamental 64-bit packed data types are packed bytes, packed words, and packed doublewords (see Figure 4-7). When performing numeric SIMD operations on these data types, these data types are interpreted as containing byte, word, or doubleword integer values.

Fundamental 64-Bit Packed SIMD Data Types

Figure 4-7. 64-Bit Packed SIMD Data Types

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DATA TYPES

4.6.2128-Bit Packed SIMD Data Types

The 128-bit packed SIMD data types were introduced into the IA-32 architecture in the SSE extensions and used with SSE2, SSE3 and SSSE3 extensions. They are operated on primarily in the 128-bit XMM registers and memory. The fundamental 128-bit packed data types are packed bytes, packed words, packed doublewords, and packed quadwords (see Figure 4-8). When performing SIMD operations on these fundamental data types in XMM registers, these data types are interpreted as containing packed or scalar single-precision floating-point or double-precision floating-point values, or as containing packed byte, word, doubleword, or quadword integer values.

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