HIGH PERFORMANCE PIPELINED DATA PATH FOR A MEDIA PROCESSOR

A pipelined data path architecture for use, in one embodiment, in a multimedia processor. The data path architecture requires a maximum of two execution pipestages to perform all instructions including wide data format multiply instructions and specially adapted multimedia instructions, such as the sum of absolute differences (SABD) instruction and other multiply with add (MADD) instructions. The data path architecture includes two wide data format input registers that feed four partitioned 32.times.32 multiplier circuits. Within two pipestages, the multiply circuit can perform one 128.times.128 multiply operation, four 32.times.32 multiply operations, eight 16.times.16 multiply operations or sixteen 8.times.8 multiply operations in parallel. The multiply circuit contains a compressor tree which generates a 256-bit sum and a 256-bit carry vector. These vectors are supplied to four 64-bit carry propagate adder circuits which generate the multiply results. When the data path architecture is performing specially adapted multimedia instructions the input registers are supplied to a pipelined logic unit containing adders, subtractors, shifters, average/round/absolute value circuits, and other logic operation circuits, compressor circuits and multiplexers. The output of the pipelined logic unit is then fed to the four 64-bit carry propagate adder circuits. In this way, the adder circuits of the multiply operation can be effectively used to also process the specially adapted multimedia instructions thereby saving IC area. Multiply circuitry is disabled to save power when the data path architecture is not processing a multiplication instruction.