Add-compare-select accelerator using pre-compare-select-add operation

Abstract

How a first result of a first operation compares to a second result of a second operation is identified. The identification may be performed without producing the first result or the second result. The first result or the second result may be selected in response to the identification, and the first operation or the second operation may be performed in response to the selection to produce the selected result. Alternatively, the first operation may be performed to produce the first result and the second operation may be performed to produce the second result. The produced first result or the produced second result may be selected in response to the identification.

1 . A machine-implemented method comprising 
 identifying how a first result of a first operation compares to a second result of a second operation;    selecting the first result or the second result in response to the identifying; and    performing the first operation or the second operation in response to the selecting to produce the selected result.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying comprises identifying how a first result of a first operation compares to a second result of a second operation without producing the first result or the second result.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising storing data indicating how the first result of the first operation compares to the second result of the second operation.  
   
   
       4 - 5 . (canceled)  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising performing the identifying, selecting, and performing for a Viterbi algorithm.  
   
   
       7 . A machine-implemented method comprising 
 identifying how a first result of a first operation compares to a second result of a second operation without producing the first result or the second result;    performing the first operation to produce the first result and the second operation to produce the second result; and    selecting the produced first result or the produced second result in response to the identifying.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , comprising storing data indicating how the first result of the first operation compares to the second result of the second operation.  
   
   
       9 - 10 . (canceled)  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 7 , comprising performing the identifying, selecting, and performing for a Viterbi algorithm.  
   
   
       12 . An apparatus comprising 
 pre-comparison circuitry to identify how a first result of a first operation compares to a second result of a second operation and to output data indicating how the first result compares to the second result; and    selection and operation performance circuitry to select the first result or the second result in response to the data indicating how the first result compares to the second result and to perform the first operation or the second operation to produce the selected result.    
   
   
       13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , the pre-comparison circuitry to identify how a first result of a first operation compares to a second result of a second operation without producing the first result or the second result.  
   
   
       14 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , the pre-comparison circuitry to store the data indicating how the first result of the first operation compares to the second result of the second operation.  
   
   
       15 - 16 . (canceled)  
   
   
       17 . An apparatus comprising 
 pre-comparison circuitry to identify how a first result of a first operation compares to a second result of a second operation without producing the first result or the second result and to output data indicating how the first result compares to the second result; and    selection and operation performance circuitry to perform the first operation to produce the first result and the second operation to produce the second result and to select the produced first result or the produced second result in response to the data indicating how the first result compares to the second result.    
   
   
       18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , the pre-comparison circuitry to store the data indicating how the first result of the first operation compares to the second result of the second operation.  
   
   
       19 - 29 . (canceled)