pto.vmax

pto.vmax is part of the Binary Vector Instructions instruction set.

Summary

Lane-wise maximum: dst[i] = (lhs[i] > rhs[i]) ? lhs[i] : rhs[i] for each active lane.

Mechanism

Computes the lane-wise maximum of two source vector registers. For each lane i where the predicate is true:

\[ \mathrm{dst}_i = \max(\mathrm{lhs}_i, \mathrm{rhs}_i) \]

The comparison follows the element type's ordering. Inactive lanes leave the destination unchanged.

Syntax

PTO Assembly Form

vmax %dst, %lhs, %rhs, %mask : !pto.vreg<NxT>

AS Level 1 (SSA)

%result = pto.vmax %lhs, %rhs, %mask : (!pto.vreg<NxT>, !pto.vreg<NxT>, !pto.mask<G>) -> !pto.vreg<NxT>

AS Level 2 (DPS)

pto.vmax ins(%lhs, %rhs, %mask : !pto.vreg<NxT>, !pto.vreg<NxT>, !pto.mask<G>)
          outs(%result : !pto.vreg<NxT>)

Supported element types on A5: i8-i32, f16, bf16, f32.

Inputs

Operand Type Description
%lhs !pto.vreg<NxT> First source vector register (first operand of the comparison)
%rhs !pto.vreg<NxT> Second source vector register (second operand of the comparison)
%mask !pto.mask<G> Predicate mask; lanes where mask bit is 1 are active

Both source registers MUST have the same element type and the same vector width N. The mask width MUST match N.

Expected Outputs

Result Type Description
%result !pto.vreg<NxT> Lane-wise maximum: dst[i] = max(lhs[i], rhs[i]) on active lanes; inactive lanes are unmodified

Side Effects

This operation has no architectural side effect beyond producing its destination vector register. It does not implicitly reserve buffers, signal events, or establish memory fences.

Constraints

Constraints

  • Type match: %lhs, %rhs, and %result MUST have identical element types.
  • Width match: All three registers MUST have the same vector width N.
  • Mask width: %mask MUST have width equal to N.
  • Active lanes: Only lanes where the mask bit is 1 participate in the comparison.
  • Inactive lanes: Destination elements at inactive lanes are unmodified.
  • NaN behavior: If either operand is NaN (floating-point), the result is NaN.

Exceptions

Exceptions

  • The verifier rejects illegal operand type mismatches, width mismatches, or mask width mismatches.
  • Any additional illegality stated in the Binary Vector Instructions instruction set page is also part of the contract.

Target-Profile Restrictions

Target-Profile Restrictions
Element Type CPU Simulator A2/A3 A5
f32 Simulated Simulated Supported
f16 / bf16 Simulated Simulated Supported
i8–i32 Simulated Simulated Supported

A5 is the primary concrete profile for the vector instructions.

Performance

A5 Latency

Element Type Latency (cycles) A5 RV
f32 7 RV_VMAX
f16 7 RV_VMAX
i32 7 RV_VMAX

A2/A3 Throughput

Metric Value Constant
Startup latency 14 A2A3_STARTUP_BINARY
Completion: FP32 19 A2A3_COMPL_FP_BINOP
Completion: INT 17 A2A3_COMPL_INT_BINOP
Per-repeat throughput 2 A2A3_RPT_2
Pipeline interval 18 A2A3_INTERVAL

Examples

C Semantics

for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
    dst[i] = (src0[i] > src1[i]) ? src0[i] : src1[i];

MLIR Usage

// Element-wise max of two vectors
%result = pto.vmax %a, %b, %active : (!pto.vreg<64xf32>, !pto.vreg<64xf32>, !pto.mask<b32>) -> !pto.vreg<64xf32>

// Clamp to a minimum value: max(x, lower)
%clamped = pto.vmax %input, %lower, %active : (!pto.vreg<64xf32>, !pto.vreg<64xf32>, !pto.mask<b32>) -> !pto.vreg<64xf32>