While porting the H264 standard encoder x264 to RISC-V, we've identified several operations that are challenging to implement efficiently with existing RVV instructions. In some cases, implementations require too many instructions and or transfer to / from memory, potentially impacting encoder performance.
On this page, we would like to document these operations to -
- Summarize the the need for these operations - both for H264 but hopefully for other multi-media projects too
- Contrast with existing support on other architectures
- Be a basis for discussion about efficient implementations - both in software and hardware.
For operations that cannot be efficiently implemented in RISC-V, we would like to propose new instructions for video encoding and decoding to boost RISC-V's performance in this domain. We hope that experience from across the broader multimedia projects / codec ecosystem can help guide improvements to RISC-V.
Please do reach out to the members below or the RISE Systems Libraries WG if you have suggestions for better implementations of the operations supported here. Also, if you have come across operations that you feel are needed for multimedia workloads but not supported well today.
This is an open collaboration. All ideas and contributions are valuable as we work together to enhance RISC-V's video codec capabilities.
Contact Information- Yin Tong - yintong.ustc@bytedance.com
- Jiayan Qian - qianjiayan.1@bytedance.com
- Punit Agrawal - punit.agrawal@bytedance.com
Collection list
- Vector transpose
- Absolute difference
- Zero-extended vmv.x.s
- Rounded Shift Right Narrow
- Signed saturate and Narrow to Unsigned
1. Vector transpose instructions
Introduction
In x264, matrix transpose instructions are primarily used in two aspects: one is to achieve matrix transposition, and the other is to achieve permutation between vectors. Both uses are quite frequent.
In scenarios within x264 where matrix transposition is required, each row of the matrix is individually placed into a register. After the transposition operation, each row of the transposed matrix is placed into a separate register. The matrix transposition discussed in this wiki is carried out in this context.
Implementation in other ISAs
In other ISAs, matrix transposition is usually implemented in two ways. Below, we will introduce these methods using aarch64 and loongarch as examples. The implementation in x86 is similar to loongarch, while the implementation in ARM is similar to aarch64.
Aarch64
In aarch64, there are trn1 and trn2 instructions. By combining one trn1 and one trn2, multiple 2x2 matrix transpositions can be completed between two vector registers. Larger matrix transpositions can be achieved by repeatedly calling 2x2 matrix transpositions of different scales. The aarch64's transpose macro implementation in x264 is as follows:
.macro transpose t1, t2, s1, s2
trn1 \t1, \s1, \s2
trn2 \t2, \s1, \s2
.endm
.macro transpose4x4.h v0, v1, v2, v3, t0, t1, t2, t3
transpose \t0\().2s, \t2\().2s, \v0\().2s, \v2\().2s
transpose \t1\().2s, \t3\().2s, \v1\().2s, \v3\().2s
transpose \v0\().4h, \v1\().4h, \t0\().4h, \t1\().4h
transpose \v2\().4h, \v3\().4h, \t2\().4h, \t3\().4h
.endm
.macro transpose4x8.h v0, v1, v2, v3, t0, t1, t2, t3
transpose \t0\().4s, \t2\().4s, \v0\().4s, \v2\().4s
transpose \t1\().4s, \t3\().4s, \v1\().4s, \v3\().4s
transpose \v0\().8h, \v1\().8h, \t0\().8h, \t1\().8h
transpose \v2\().8h, \v3\().8h, \t2\().8h, \t3\().8h
.endm
.macro transpose8x8.h r0, r1, r2, r3, r4, r5, r6, r7, r8, r9
trn1 \r8\().8h, \r0\().8h, \r1\().8h
trn2 \r9\().8h, \r0\().8h, \r1\().8h
trn1 \r1\().8h, \r2\().8h, \r3\().8h
trn2 \r3\().8h, \r2\().8h, \r3\().8h
trn1 \r0\().8h, \r4\().8h, \r5\().8h
trn2 \r5\().8h, \r4\().8h, \r5\().8h
trn1 \r2\().8h, \r6\().8h, \r7\().8h
trn2 \r7\().8h, \r6\().8h, \r7\().8h
trn1 \r4\().4s, \r0\().4s, \r2\().4s
trn2 \r2\().4s, \r0\().4s, \r2\().4s
trn1 \r6\().4s, \r5\().4s, \r7\().4s
trn2 \r7\().4s, \r5\().4s, \r7\().4s
trn1 \r5\().4s, \r9\().4s, \r3\().4s
trn2 \r9\().4s, \r9\().4s, \r3\().4s
trn1 \r3\().4s, \r8\().4s, \r1\().4s
trn2 \r8\().4s, \r8\().4s, \r1\().4s
trn1 \r0\().2d, \r3\().2d, \r4\().2d
trn2 \r4\().2d, \r3\().2d, \r4\().2d
trn1 \r1\().2d, \r5\().2d, \r6\().2d
trn2 \r5\().2d, \r5\().2d, \r6\().2d
trn2 \r6\().2d, \r8\().2d, \r2\().2d
trn1 \r2\().2d, \r8\().2d, \r2\().2d
trn1 \r3\().2d, \r9\().2d, \r7\().2d
trn2 \r7\().2d, \r9\().2d, \r7\().2d
.endm
Here, transpose4x4.h and transpose4x8.h achieve fast transpositions of 4x4 and 4x8 (2x4x4) matrices by repeatedly calling the transpose macro.
Loongarch
In loongarch, matrix transposition is implemented using the Interleave method.
- vilvl (Vector Interleave Low)
- vilvh (Vector Interleave High)
The Loongarch's 4x4 transpose macro implementation in x264 is as follows:
/*
* Description : Transpose 4x4 block with word elements in vectors
* Arguments : Inputs - in0, in1, in2, in3
* Outputs - out0, out1, out2, out3
* Details :
* Example :
* 1, 2, 3, 4 1, 5, 9,13
* 5, 6, 7, 8 to 2, 6,10,14
* 9,10,11,12 =====> 3, 7,11,15
* 13,14,15,16 4, 8,12,16
*/
.macro LSX_TRANSPOSE4x4_W in0, in1, in2, in3, out0, out1, out2, out3, \
tmp0, tmp1
vilvl.w \tmp0, \in1, \in0
vilvh.w \out1, \in1, \in0
vilvl.w \tmp1, \in3, \in2
vilvh.w \out3, \in3, \in2
vilvl.d \out0, \tmp1, \tmp0
vilvl.d \out2, \out3, \out1
vilvh.d \out3, \out3, \out1
vilvh.d \out1, \tmp1, \tmp0
.endm
By performing multiple interleaved instrutions, matrix transposition can be achieved. Here is the value change of each register during the process of 4x4 matrix transposition using the Interleave method:
# input
in0: [a0 a1 a2 a3]
in1: [b0 b1 b2 b3]
in2: [c0 c1 c2 c3]
in3: [d0 d1 d2 d3]
vilvl.w \tmp0, \in1, \in0
// tmp0: [a0 b0 a1 b1]
vilvh.w \out1, \in1, \in0
// out1: [a2 b2 a3 b3]
vilvl.w \tmp1, \in3, \in2
// tmp1: [c0 d0 c1 d1]
vilvh.w \out3, \in3, \in2
// out3: [c2 d2 c3 d3]
vilvl.d \out0, \tmp1, \tmp0
// out0: [a0 b0 c0 d0]
vilvl.d \out2, \out3, \out1
// out2: [a2 b2 c2 d2]
vilvh.d \out3, \out3, \out1
// out3: [a3 b3 c3 d3]
vilvh.d \out1, \tmp1, \tmp0
// out1: [a1 b1 c1 d1]
# output
out0: [a0 b0 c0 d0]
out1: [a1 b1 c1 d1]
out2: [a2 b2 c2 d2]
out3: [a3 b3 c3 d3]
These two instructions in LoongArch are essentially the same as zip1 and zip2 in AArch64. Similarly, the punpckl / h instructions in x86 exhibit the same behavior. In x264, x86 also uses punpckl / h for matrix transposition.
Implementation in RISCV64
Using RISC-V RVV, we have discovered two methods to perform matrix transposition(thanks camel-cdr for the assistance provided):
- Using segmented load or store
- Using vrgather
- Using vnsrl
Here, we use the example of transposing a 4x8 (2x4x4) matrix (transposing the left 4x4 and the right 4x4 separately) to illustrate these two methods.
Segmented load or store
In this way, we can use the `vssseg4e16.v` instruction to store each row of the original matrix into memory by columns, and then read them back by rows. Since we are transposing a 4x8 matrix, we also need to use `vslide` to combine the contents of the two registers together.
// Using extra loads and stores, and use vslide to combine them
.macro TRANSPOSE4x8_16 buf, bstride, v0, v1, v2, v3, t0, t1, t2, t3
vssseg4e16.v \v0, (\buf), \bstride
vsetivli zero, 4, e16, mf2, ta, ma
vle16.v \v0, (\buf)
add \buf, \buf, \bstride
vle16.v \v1, (\buf)
add \buf, \buf, \bstride
vle16.v \v2, (\buf)
add \buf, \buf, \bstride
vle16.v \v3, (\buf)
add \buf, \buf, \bstride
vle16.v \t0, (\buf)
add \buf, \buf, \bstride
vle16.v \t1, (\buf)
add \buf, \buf, \bstride
vle16.v \t2, (\buf)
add \buf, \buf, \bstride
vle16.v \t3, (\buf)
add \buf, \buf, \bstride
vsetivli zero, 2, e64, m1, tu, ma
vslideup.vi \v0, \t0, 1
vslideup.vi \v1, \t1, 1
vslideup.vi \v2, \t2, 1
vslideup.vi \v3, \t3, 1
.endm
// under VLEN=128
function transpose4x8_16_one
vsetivli zero, 8, e16, m1, ta, ma
mv t0, a0
vl4re16.v v0, (a0)
li t1, 8
TRANSPOSE4x8_16 t0, t1, v0, v1, v2, v3, v8, v9, v10, v11
vs4r.v v0, (a0)
ret
endfunc
The drawback of this method is that we need to access memory, which certainly does not have the upper limit of pure register operations. Additionally, we always need to have a buffer space, and sometimes we need to protect its contents from being corrupted (as in dav1d, which would require more instructions).
Vrgather
`vrgather` can reorganize the elements in a register group based on an index. There are two ways to create the index: one is to create it manually, and the other is to read it from memory.
For creating index by hand, the idea is to set the index for gathering vector N to (i&3)*vl+(i&~3u)+N, where i is the element index obtained by vid.v.
// Using vrgather with index created by hand
.macro TRANSPOSE4x8_16_vrgather v0, v1, v2, v3, t0, t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7, s0
vsetivli zero, 8, e16, m1, ta, ma
vid.v \t0
li \s0, 8
vand.vi \t1, \t0, 3
vmul.vx \t1, \t1, \s0
vand.vi \t0, \t0, -4
vadd.vv \t4, \t1, \t0
vadd.vi \t5, \t4, 1
vadd.vi \t6, \t4, 2
vadd.vi \t7, \t4, 3
li \s0, 32
vsetvli zero, \s0, e16, m4, ta, ma
vrgatherei16.vv \t0, \v0, \t4
vmv.v.v \v0, \t0
.endm
// under VLEN=128
function transpose4x8_16_two
vl4re16.v v0, (a0)
TRANSPOSE4x8_16_vrgather v0, v1, v2, v3, v8, v9, v10, v11, v12, v13, v14, v15, t0
vs4r.v v0, (a0)
ret
endfunc
Alternatively, we can read the index from memory.
const scan4x8_frame, align=8
.half 0, 8, 16, 24, 4, 12, 20, 28
.half 1, 9, 17, 25, 5, 13, 21, 29
.half 2, 10, 18, 26, 6, 14, 22, 30
.half 3, 11, 19, 27, 7, 15, 23, 31
endconst
// under VLEN=128
function transpose4x8_16_three
vl4re16.v v0, (a0)
movrel t0, scan4x8_frame
vl4re16.v v4, (t0)
li t1, 32
vsetvli zero, t1, e16, m4, ta, ma
vrgatherei16.vv v8, v0, v4
vs4r.v v8, (a0)
ret
endfunc
Based on our current results, `vrgather` is much slower than segmented load/store (vsseg: 0.277785 seconds, vrgather.vv: 1.545038 seconds). However, we believe that segmented load/store has significant potential for improvement, as it is not a pure in-register operation.
Another issue is that in the hot functions of x264, specifically the SATD series of functions, the AArch64 implementation extensively uses `trn1` and `trn2` operations. These operations can simplify calculations and improve SIMD performance. However, currently performing such operations in RVV is quite expensive.
// Each vtrn macro simulate two instructions in aarch64: trn1 and trn2
.macro vtrn_8h d0, d1, s0, s1, t0, t1, t3
vsetivli zero, 4, e32, m1, ta, ma
vsll.vi \t3, \s0, 16
vsrl.vi \t1, \s1, 16
vsrl.vi \t0, \s0, 16
vsll.vi \d0, \s1, 16
vsll.vi \d1, \t1, 16
vsrl.vi \t3, \t3, 16
vsetivli zero, 8, e16, m1, ta, ma
vor.vv \d0, \d0, \t3
vor.vv \d1, \d1, \t0
.endm
.macro vtrn_4s d0, d1, s0, s1, t0, t1, t3
vsetivli zero, 2, e64, m1, ta, ma
li t5, 32
vsll.vx \t3, \s0, t5
vsrl.vx \t1, \s1, t5
vsrl.vx \t0, \s0, t5
vsll.vx \d0, \s1, t5
vsll.vx \d1, \t1, t5
vsrl.vx \t3, \t3, t5
vsetivli zero, 4, e32, m1, ta, ma
vor.vv \d0, \d0, \t3
vor.vv \d1, \d1, \t0
.endm
This is also one of the main reasons why we want to add instructions similar to `trn1` and `trn2` in RVV.
Vnsrl
Olaf pointed out a new method to achieve matrix transposition, using the vnsrl instruction in RVV along with vslide instructions to achieve the effect of zip1 and zip2 in AArch64. Olaf provided detailed information for this method, and we are very grateful for his work. Below is an approach that works with VLEN=128:
# VLEN=128 transpose one 4x4 matrix of 16-bit elements stored in 4 vreg:
# a b c d a e i m
# e f g h -----\ b f j n
# i j k l -----/ c g k o
# m n o p d h l p
## setup code:
# li t1, 32
vsetvli t0, x0, e32, m1, ta, ma
vslideup.vi v0, v1, 2
vslideup.vi v2, v3, 2
vmv1r.v v1, v2
# v0: a b c d e f g h
# v1: i j k l m n o p
vnsrl.wi v4, v0, 0
vnsrl.wx v6, v0, t1
# v4: a b e f i j m n
# v6: c d g h k l o p
vsetvli t0, x0, e16, mf2, ta, ma
vnsrl.wi v0, v4, 0
vnsrl.wi v1, v4, 16
vnsrl.wi v2, v6, 0
vnsrl.wi v3, v6, 16
# v0: a e i m
# v1: b f j n
# v2: c g k o
# v3: d h l p
2. Absolute difference instructions
Introduction
x264 need widening absolute difference accumulate operations which is 5%～6% in both x264 running time and specCPU 525.x264_r.
https://wiki.videolan.org/X264_asm_intro/#Example_2:_pixel_sad
Implementation in other ISAs
Aarch64
Aarch64 has a few different instructions based on the signedness and data type of input and output to calculate absolute differences
- SABD / UABD - signed / unsigned absolute difference
- SABDL / UABDL - signed / unsigned absolute difference (double-width result)
- SABA / UABA - signed / unsigned absolute difference and add
- SABAL/ UABAL - signed / unsigned absolute difference(double-width result) and add
x86
Compute sum of absolute difference: psadbw
Implementation in RISCV64
need 3~4 instructions to implement
.macro uabd d0, s0, s1, t0 vmaxu.vv \d0, \s0, \s1 vminu.vv \t0, \s0, \s1 vsub.vv \d0, \d0, \t0 .endm .macro sabd d0, s0, s1, t0 vmax.vv \d0, \s0, \s1 vmin.vv \t0, \s0, \s1 vsub.vv \d0, \d0, \t0 .endm .macro uabal d0, s0, s1, t0, t1 vmaxu.vv \t1, \s0, \s1 vminu.vv \t0, \s0, \s1 vsub.vv \t0, \t1, \t0 vwaddu.wv \d0, \d0, \t0 .endm .macro uabdl d0, s0, s1, t0, t1 vmaxu.vv \t1, \s0, \s1 vminu.vv \t0, \s0, \s1 vwsubu.vv \d0, \t1, \t0 .endm
3. Zero-extended vmv.x.s
Introduction
The vmv.x.s instruction copies a single SEW-wide element from index 0 of the source vector register to a destination
integer register. If SEW > XLEN, the least-signi cant XLEN bits are transferred and the upper SEW-XLEN bits are ignored. If
SEW < XLEN, the value is sign-extended to XLEN bits.
Implementation in RISCV64
//uint16_t with zbb extension vsetivli zero, 1, e16, m1, ta, ma vmv.x.s a1, v1 zext.h a1, a1
4. Rounded Shift Right Narrow
Introduction
RVV 1.0 has instructions to -
- shift + scaling: rssra
- shift + narrow: vnsrl
- clip + narrow: vnclip
Implementation in RISCV64
// AArch64 implementation rshrn v20.8b, v20.8h, #3 rshrn2 v20.16b, v21.8h, #3 // RISCV64 implementation vsetivli zero, 8, e16, m1, ta, ma vssrl.vi v20, v20, 3 vssrl.vi v21, v21, 3 vsetivli zero, 8, e8, mf2, ta, ma vncvt.x.x.w v20, v20 vncvt.x.x.w v21, v21 vsetivli zero, 16, e8, m1, ta, ma vslideup.vi v20, v21, 8
5. Signed saturate and Narrow to Unsigned
Introduction
Implementation in RISCV64
// AArch64 implementation sqxtun v0.8b, v0.8h // RISCV64 implementation vsetivli zero, 4, e16, m1, ta, ma vmax.vx v0, v0, zero vsetivli zero, 4, e8, mf2, ta, ma vnclipu.wi v4, v0, 0