The VIS Instruction Set is a set of RISC instructions which are
extensions to the SPARC V9 open processor architecture and are designed
to accelerate applications where multiple data entries require the same
instruction, such as multimedia, image processing and networking
applications.
The VIS instruction set is a set of high performance SIMD instructions
which are supported on all UltraSPARC processors. The VIS Instruction
Set is designed to accelerate processing of some algorithms by as much
as 7 times, by performing up to 10 operations in parallel per cycle.
Applications running on an UltraSPARC processor and Solaris operating
system most likely are accelerated by the VIS Instruction Set, as
Solaris operating system is VIS Instruction Set-accelerated. With the
VIS Instruction Set, UltraSPARC processor technology raised the
microprocessor performance bar by being the first microprocessor to
incorporate support for Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD)
processing on 2D and 3D imaging, graphics, video compression and
decompression, audio, networking, encryption and other algorithms.
Key Features and Benefits
Key Applications:
Bioinformatics
Cryptography
Database Systems
Digital Signal Processing
3D Visualization
Graphics and Imaging
Multimedia
Networking
Telecommunications
Key Instruction Categories:
Arithmetic and Logical Instructions
Comparison Instructions
Format Conversion Instructions
Data Misalignment Handling Instructions
Data Access Instructions
Fast 3D Array Access Instructions
PDIST Instructions
Data Manipulation Instructions
Accelerating applications with the VIS Instruction Set:
There are several ways to access the power of VIS:
Write VIS Instruction Set code directly in assembler at the lowest level.
