[...]... to include vector math functionality, but the processor was limited to small 1 2 Chapter 1: Introduction sequences of a vector math calculation; such implementations include Multimedia Extensions (MMX), AMD’s 3DNow! Professional, or the Gekko chip, where only half vectors are dealt with at any one time These advances, however, have been a boon for engineers on a budget as their vector- based math used... publication, there were none out there specific to the topic of vector processors There were a few books on parallel processing, but they typically covered high-performance processors in commercial systems The PlayStation 2 game console from Sony, Xbox from Microsoft, and GameCube from Nintendo had recently been shipped to consumers They each contain a vector processor, putting super computer power in the hands... their vector- based math used in scientific applications can run faster on these newer computers when properly coded due to their vector math ability The “catch” here is that vector processors have special memory requirements and must use math libraries designed to use that special vector functionality of the processor, not that of the slower standard floating-point unit (FPU), which is still present on... times?) If you are lacking a mathematical foundation related to these subjects of geometry, trigonometry, or linear algebra, I would recommend the book 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development by Fletcher Dunn and Ian Parberry or a visit to your local university bookstore The book you are now reading (and hopefully paid for) is related to the use of vector math in games or embedded and scientific... into the functionality and instruction sets of processors with unpublished technical information So read this book between the lines Another topic covered in this book is vertex and pixel shaders They are touched on lightly, but the vector math is accented and thus brought to light The new graphics cards have the programmable graphics processors with vector functionality Hint: Check out my web site... Vector Cosine Vertex Lighting Tangent and Cotangent Functions Pseudo Vec Angular Relationships between Trigonometric Functions Arc-Sine and Cosine Pseudo Vec Exercises Chapter 12 Matrix Math Vectors Vector to Vector. .. debugging it will be harder This allows the algorithm to be debugged and mathematical vector patterns to be identified before writing the vector algorithm In addition, the results of both algorithms can be compared to verify that they are identical, and thus the vector code is functioning as expected At any time throughout the process, a vectorizing C compiler could be used as a benchmark When the specialized... makes its information freely available This is a superset of almost all functionality of current consumer-based vector processors This is not an AltiVec programming manual, but understanding that particular processor and noting the differences between the other public processors with their vector functionality embedded in their 4 Chapter 1: Introduction > Multimedia Extensions (MMX), Single Instruction... Introduction Vector math processors have, up until recently, been in the domain of the supercomputer, such as the Cray computers Computers that have recently joined this realm are the Apple Velocity Engine (AltiVec) coprocessor of the PowerPC G4 in Macintosh and UNIX computers, as well as IBM’s Power PC-based Gekko used in the GameCube and Digital Signal Processing Systems (DSP) MIPS processors, such... Engine (EE) and Vector Units (VUs) used in the Sony PlayStation 2 are also in this group The X86 processors, such as Intel’s Pentium III used in the Xbox, and all other X86s including the Pentium IV and AMD’s 3DNow! extension instructions used in PCs are other recent additions Both fixed-point as well as floating-point math is being used by the computer, video gaming, and embedded worlds in vector- based . y0 w1 h1" alt="" Vector Game Math Processors James Leiterman Wordware Publishing, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Leiterman, James. Vector game math processors / by James. coded due to their vector math ability. The “catch” here is that vector processors have special memory requirements and must use math libraries designed to use that special vector functionality. 191 Chapter 8 Vector Addition and Subtraction 192 Vector Floating-Point Addition 193 Vector Floating-Point Addition with Scalar 194 Vector Floating-Point Subtraction 195 vmp_VecNeg 196 Vector Floating-Point