[FFmpeg-devel] [flamefest-start] A little something on MMX/SSE intrinsics

[Michael Niedermayer]

On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 10:59:52PM +0000, M?ns Rullg?rd wrote:
[...]
> >> >> I guess you can always try, though, but don't do anything to
> >> >> discourage people who know altivec from adding more. There's still a
> >> >> lot missing from H.264.
> >> >
> >> > Code is either well written or should be rejected.
> >> > Intrinsics != well written.
> >> 
> >> That's where you're wrong.  Code using intrinsics can be well-written.
> >
> > If the compiler generated optimal code to begin with there would be
> > no need for asm/intrinsics. OTOH if it does not, using intrinsics is
> > not that smart.
> 
> As long as we're using the C language, expressing algorithms in a way
> that give a compiler even a remote chance to identify possibilities
> for SIMD optimisation is next to impossible.  If we entertain the

I disagree here, a compiler can convert C code to SIMD in principle.
As example take, lets say motion compensation, a 8x8 block a loop iterating
over lines and columns. The compiler just has to unroll it 8 times proof
that the loop iterations cannot interfere with each other (&a[1] != &a[2]
and such)
then proof that the read 8 bit values fit in 8bit and "vectorize" it to
SIMD. It also has to recognize the (a+b+1)>>1 pavgb, but thats something gcc
can do already, ive seen it recognize loops and convert them to bsf/bsr.

Another approch would be to start at a given value of an array and loop
and ask the question if the next 1 or 3 or 7 values are handled identically
if so it can be possibly changed to SIMD.


[...]

-- 
Michael     GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB

Let us carefully observe those good qualities wherein our enemies excel us
and endeavor to excel them, by avoiding what is faulty, and imitating what
is excellent in them. -- Plutarch
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