SINGLE PRECISION VECTOR DOT PRODUCT WITH "WORD" VECTOR WRITE MASK

The present invention is generally related to the field of image processing, and more specifically to an instruction set for processing images. Vector processing may involve performing a plurality of dot product operations to generate operands for generating operands for a new vector. The dot product operations may require the issue of a plurality of permute instructions to arrange the vector operands in desired locations of a target register. Embodiments of the invention provide a dot product instruction wherein a mask field may be used to specify a particular location of a target register in which to transfer data, thereby avoiding the need for permute instructions for arranging data, reducing dependencies between instructions, and the usage of temporary registers.