SIMD backend

[certik]

diff --git a/src/libasr/ASR.asdl b/src/libasr/ASR.asdl
index 26e60e172..d6a29ecef 100644
--- a/src/libasr/ASR.asdl
+++ b/src/libasr/ASR.asdl
@@ -420,6 +420,7 @@ array_physical_type
     = DescriptorArray
     | PointerToDataArray
     | FixedSizeArray
+    | SIMDArray
     | NumPyArray
     | ISODescriptorArray

We'll use Annotated:

from typing import Annotated
from lpython import f32, SIMD
x: Annotated[f32[64], SIMD]

In ASR we use SIMDArray physical type, and then in the LLVM backend (or ASR->ASR pass) we ensure all such arrays get vectorized, otherwise we give a compile time error message. The conditions are:

• Must be 1D array
• Array element type and all operations must directly map into hardware instructions. For example on Apple M1 CPU, f32 plus and multiply is supported (it will compile), but f16 multiply is not (compile time error on Apple M1)
• Fixed compile time size
• The size must be a multiple of the hardware vector length. If we have 512 bits (AVX-512), the sizeof(element)size must be equal to 512n for n=1, 2, 3, .... If n=1, then the array is directly stored in a register. For n>2, the loop is unrolled (since the size is known at compile time), ensuring we hit maximum compute throughput (hide IO and latency).

[Shaikh-Ubaid]

What is the priority for this issue?

[certik]

I added this issue here: #2258, but the relative priority is not clear yet. All the issues there are important.

[czgdp1807]

This seems interesting. I would like to work on this along with other things in my bucket list.

[certik]

Ok, here is an example of a vectorized Mandelbrot that we should try to compile using LPython and get maximum performance.

import numpy as np

MAX_ITERS = 100

# c: Annotated[c64[:], SIMD]
def mandelbrot_kernel2(c):
    z = np.empty(c.shape, dtype=np.complex128)
    z[:] = c[:]
    nv = np.zeros(c.shape, dtype=np.int8)
    # True if the point is in set, False otherwise
    mask = np.empty(c.shape, dtype=np.bool_)
    for i in range(MAX_ITERS):
        mask[:] = (abs(z) <= 2)
        if (all(mask == False)): break
        z[mask] *= z[mask]
        z[mask] += c[mask]
        nv[mask] += 1
    return nv

n = 8
height = 4096 // n
width = 4096 // n
min_x = -2.0
max_x = 0.47
min_y = -1.12
max_y = 1.12
scale_x = (max_x - min_x) / width
scale_y = (max_y - min_y) / height
simd_width = 512
assert simd_width <= width

output = np.empty((height,width), dtype=np.int8)

x = np.empty((simd_width), dtype=np.complex128)
for h in range(height):
    cy = min_y + h * scale_y
    for w0 in range(width // simd_width):
        w = np.arange(w0*simd_width, (w0+1)*simd_width, dtype=np.int32)
        cx = min_x + w * scale_x
        x[:] = cx + 1j*cy
        output[h,w] = mandelbrot_kernel2(x)

print(output)