MOM: a Matrix SIMD Instruction Set Architecture for Multimedia Applications

Abstract

MOM is a novel matrix-oriented ISA paradigm for multimedia applications, based on fusing conventional vector ISAs with SIMD ISAs such as MMX. This paper justifies why MOM is a suitable alternative for the multimedia domain due to its efficiency handling the small matrix structures typically found in most multimedia kernels. MOM leverages a performance boost between 1.3x and 4x over more conventional multimedia extensions (such as MMX and MDMX), which already achieve performance benefits ranging from 1.3x to 15x over conventional Alpha code. Moreover, MOM exhibit a high relative performance for low-issue rates and a high tolerance to memory latency. Both advantages present MOM as an attractive alternative for the embedded domain.