SIMDvector

SIMDvector is a term used in computer science to denote a vector data type used in single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) architectures. A SIMDvector packs multiple scalar elements into a single vector register, enabling the same operation to be performed on all elements in parallel.

Element types and widths vary; common configurations include 8, 16, 32, or 64-bit elements arranged in 128-, 256-, or 512-bit vectors. Operations include element-wise addition, subtraction, multiplication, and comparisons, as well as logical and bitwise operations, reductions, and data movement (loads/stores).

SIMDvector is implemented in various hardware families, such as SSE/AVX on x86, NEON on ARM, and similar extensions on RISC-V and POWER. Over time, wider vectors and more flexible masking have improved throughput, while newer architectures introduce features like predication or masked operations.

Programming interfaces expose SIMDvector through intrinsics, language-level vector types, or libraries. Examples include C/C++ intrinsics for SSE/AVX, Java's Vector API, or experimental std::simd in C++23/24 proposals. Performance portability is a concern; code may rely on runtime dispatch or portable abstractions to adapt to available hardware.

Common use cases include multimedia processing, image and video encoding, scientific simulations, machine learning preprocessing, and cryptography. Effective use requires attention to data alignment, memory bandwidth, and vectorization opportunities, as well as careful benchmarking.