[LLVMdev] Predication on SIMD architectures and LLVM

[Marcello Maggioni]

Hello,
I'm working on a compiler based on LLVM for a SIMD architecture that 
supports instruction predication. We would like to implement branching 
on this architecture using predication.
As you know the LLVM-IR doesn't support instruction predication, so I'm 
not exactly sure on what is the best way to implement it.
We came up with some ways to do it in LLVM:

- Do not add any predication in the IR (except for load and stores 
through intrinsics), linearize the branches and substitute PHI nodes 
with selects for merging values . In the backend then we would custom 
lower the select instruction to produce a predicated mov to choose the 
right version of the value. I think this option doesn't make use of the 
possible benefits of the architecture we are targeting at all.

- Another way could be adding intrinsics for all instructions in the 
target to make them support predication, still linearize all the 
branches, but use instruction predication instead of generating cmovs . 
The backend then would custom lower almost any instruction into 
predicated custom nodes that are matched through tablegen patterns. We 
could generate these intrinsics in the same IR pass that linearizes 
branches.

- Make a custom backend that actually directly outputs predicated 
instructions (we really mainly only need one type of predicate , so 
every instruction could use that kind of predicate ...) but I think this 
is a nasty solution ...

Did someone already tried to do this in LLVM and if yes what solution/s 
did you use to solve the problem?

Regards,
Marcello

-- 
Marcello Maggioni
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