Running IPP in AVX2 mode on 4th-generation Intel Core i7 processors

[BFalk]

I am currently using a (purportedly) Core i7-4700EQ Mobile processor (comprised by a SOM-5894 COM-Express board from Advantech). It is possible that I am using an engineering sample processor since its type is reported as "0000" by the BIOS.

My application uses IPP (7.1). Specifically, I am trying to use the library in AVX2 mode. I am using static linkage (# include before # incluie ). My code runs in 32-bit mode.

It turns out that a call to ippsFFTInitAlloc_C_32fc crashes upon hitting on an SHLX opcode belonging to the BMI2 instruction set extension.

I was originally under the impression that BMI2 is part of the 4th generation (a.k.a. Haswell) architecture, however the particular that I am using reports that it does not support BMI2 (nor BMI1).

I have the following questions:

1. Are there other 4th generation Core i7 processors that do support these instructions?

2. Does IPP specifically mandate support of BMI2 (in addition to support of AVX2) when trying to use it in AVX2 mode?

Thanks,

Beni Falk

[Natalie_Z_Intel]

Beni,

You indicated that a pre-release HSW CPU was used; is AVX2 enabled for the processor?

I'm not sure how AVX will behave on pre-launch HSW CPU; use CPUID to check if AVX2 is enabled.

Hardware support for AVX2 is indicated by CPUID.(EAX=07H, ECX=0H):EBX.AVX2[bit 5]=1.

Also refer to this http://download-software.intel.com/sites/default/files/m/8/a/1/8/4/36945-319433-011.pdf guide for more info:

http://download-software.intel.com/sites/default/files/m/8/a/1/8/4/36945-319433-011.pdf http://download-software.intel.com/sites/default/files/m/8/a/1/8/4/36945-319433-011.pdf

Here's the routine to do so:

INT supports_avx2()

{ ; result in eax

mov eax, 1

cpuid

and ecx, 018000000H

cmp ecx, 018000000H; check both OSXSAVE and AVX feature flags

jne not_supported

; processor supports AVX instructions and XGETBV is enabled by OS

mov eax, 7

mov ecx, 0

cpuid

and ebx, 20H

cmp ebx, 20H; check AVX2 feature flags

jne not_supported

mov ecx, 0; specify 0 for XFEATURE_ENABLED_MASK register

XGETBV; result in EDX:EAX

and eax, 06H

cmp eax, 06H; check OS has enabled both XMM and YMM state support

jne not_supported

mov eax, 1

jmp done

NOT_SUPPORTED:

mov eax, 0

done:

}