Apparatus and method for performing permutation operations in which the ordering of one of a first group and a second group of data elements is preserved and the ordering of the other group of data elements is changed

1. Apparatus for processing data, said apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry for performing data processing operations comprising permutation circuitry for performing permutation operations;

a register bank having a plurality of registers for storing data;

control circuitry, responsive to program instructions, configured to control said processing circuitry to perform said data processing operations;

wherein said control circuitry is configured to be responsive to a control-generating instruction to generate, in dependence upon a bit-mask, control signal's to configure said permutation circuitry for performing a permutation operation on an input operand comprising data stored in one or more registers of said register bank;

wherein said bit-mask identifies within said input operand a first group of data elements having a first ordering and a second group of data elements having a second ordering, said permutation operation preserves one but changes the other of said first ordering and said second ordering, and both of said first and second groups of data elements comprise data stored in said register bank.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said changed ordering of one of said first ordering and second ordering comprises a reversed ordering.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said permutation operation is one of an interleave operation and a de-interleave operation.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said permutation operation is performed by a permutation instruction following configuration of said permutation circuitry by said control-generating instruction.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said control circuitry is responsive to said control-generating instruction both to configure said permutation circuitry and to perform said permutation operation.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said first group and said second group of data elements comprise multi-bit data elements.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said input operand comprises a packed vector.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said permutation operation is performed on an input vector of data comprising said first and second groups of data elements and generates an output vector of data comprising one of said first and second groups of data elements having preserved ordering and the other of said first and second groups of data elements having changed ordering.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 , wherein said input vector comprises a plurality of vector registers and said output vector comprises a respective plurality of vector registers.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one mask register for storing said bit-mask.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein said at least one mask register uses a zero bit to indicate one of and a one bit to indicate the other of said first group of data elements and said second group of data elements respectively.

12. Apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein said at least one mask register is a Boolean register.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said permutation circuitry comprises a butterfly network arranged to rearrange a plurality of data elements in dependence upon butterfly connections between pairs of said data elements.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein said butterfly network is a constant geometry network in which said butterfly connections remain fixed whilst said plurality of data elements are permitted to move.

15. Apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein said butterfly connections remain fixed whilst said plurality of data elements are permitted to move.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said first group of data elements and said second group of data elements each have different numbers of constituent data elements.

17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said two ordered data sets correspond respectively to two different communication channels.

18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said data processing apparatus is a digital signal processor.

19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said data processing apparatus is a co-processor.

20. A method of performing permutation operations using a data processing apparatus having processing circuitry for performing data processing operations, a register bank having a plurality of registers for storing data and control circuitry responsive to program instructions to control said processing circuitry to perform said data processing operations, said processing circuitry comprising permutation circuitry for performing permutation operations, said method comprising the step of:

(i) in response to a control-generating instruction, generating in dependence upon a bit-mask, control signals to configure said permutation circuitry for performing a permutation operation on an input operand comprising data stored in one or more registers of said register bank;

wherein said bit-mask identifies within said input operand a first group of data elements having a first ordering and a second group of data elements having a second ordering, said permutation operation preserves one but changes the other of said first ordering and said second ordering, and both of said first and second groups of data elements comprise data stored in said register bank.

21. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including a computer program for controlling a computer to perform a method as claimed in claim 20 , said computer program comprising at least one control-generating instruction.

22. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a virtual machine for providing an emulation of an apparatus for processing data, said apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry for performing data processing operations comprising permutation circuitry for performing permutation operations;

a register bank having a plurality of registers for storing data;

control circuitry responsive to program instructions to control said processing circuitry to perform said data processing operations;

wherein said control circuitry is arranged to be responsive to a control-generating instruction to generate in dependence upon a bit-mask, control signals to configure said permutation circuitry for performing a permutation operation on an input operand comprising data stored in one or more registers of said register bank;

wherein said bit-mask identifies within said input operand a first group of data elements having a first ordering and a second group of data elements having a second ordering, said permutation operation preserves one but changes the other of said first ordering and said second ordering, and both of said first and second groups of data elements comprise data stored in said register bank.