ISALIST(7) Device and Network Interfaces ISALIST(7)

NAME

isalist - the native instruction sets known to Solaris software

DESCRIPTION

The possible instruction set names returned by isalist(1) and the
SI_ISALIST command of sysinfo(2) are listed here.


The list is ordered within an instruction set family in the sense that
later names are generally faster then earlier names; note that this is in
the reverse order than listed by isalist(1) and sysinfo(2). In the
following list of values, numbered entries generally represent increasing
performance; lettered entries are either mutually exclusive or cannot be
ordered.


This feature is obsolete and may be removed in a future version of
Solaris. The lists below do not reflect all the extensions that have been
made by modern processors. See getisax(2) for a better way to handle
instruction set extensions.

SPARC Platforms

Where appropriate, correspondence with a given value of the -xarch option
of Sun's C 4.0 compiler is indicated. Other compilers might have similar
options.

1a. sparc
Indicates the SPARC V8 instruction set, as
defined in The SPARC Architecture Manual,
Version 8, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1992. Some
instructions (such as integer multiply and
divide, FSMULD, and all floating point
operations on quad operands) can be emulated
by the kernel on certain systems.


1b. sparcv7
Same as sparc. This corresponds to code
produced with the -xarch=v7 option of Sun's C
4.0 compiler.


2. sparcv8-fsmuld
Like sparc, except that integer multiply and
divide must be executed in hardware. This
corresponds to code produced with the
-xarch=v8a option of Sun's C 4.0 compiler.


3. sparcv8
Like sparcv8-fsmuld, except that FSMULD must
also be executed in hardware. This corresponds
to code produced with the -xarch=v8 option of
Sun's C 4.0 compiler.


4. sparcv8plus
Indicates the SPARC V8 instruction set plus
those instructions in the SPARC V9 instruction
set, as defined in The SPARC Architecture
Manual, Version 9, Prentice-Hall, 1994, that
can be used according to The V8+ Technical
Specification. This corresponds to code
produced with the -xarch=v8plus option of
Sun's C 4.0 compiler.


5a. sparcv8plus+vis
Like sparcv8plus, with the addition of those
UltraSPARC I Visualization Instructions that
can be used according to The V8+ Technical
Specification. This corresponds to code
produced with the -xarch=v8plusa option of
Sun's C 4.0 compiler.


5b. sparcv8plus+fmuladd
Like sparcv8plus, with the addition of the
Fujitsu SPARC64 floating multiply-add and
multiply-subtract instructions.


6. sparcv9
Indicates the SPARC V9 instruction set, as
defined in The SPARC Architecture Manual,
Version 9, Prentice-Hall, 1994.


7a. sparcv9+vis
Like sparcv9, with the addition of the
UltraSPARC I Visualization Instructions.


7b. sparcv9+vis2
Like sparcv9, with the addition of the
UltraSPARC III Visualization Instructions.


7c. sparcv9+fmuladd
Like sparcv9, with the addition of the Fujitsu
SPARC64 floating multiply-add and multiply-
subtract instructions.


x86 Platforms
1. i386
The Intel 80386 instruction set, as described in
The i386 Microprocessor Programmer's Reference
Manual.


2. i486
The Intel 80486 instruction set, as described in
The i486 Microprocessor Programmer's Reference
Manual. (This is effectively i386, plus the
CMPXCHG, BSWAP, and XADD instructions.)


3. pentium
The Intel Pentium instruction set, as described in
The Pentium Processor User's Manual. (This is
effectively i486, plus the CPU_ID instruction, and
any features that the CPU_ID instruction indicates
are present.)


4. pentium+mmx
Like pentium, with the MMX instructions guaranteed
present.


5. pentium_pro
The Intel PentiumPro instruction set, as described
in The PentiumPro Family Developer's Manual. (This
is effectively pentium, with the CMOVcc, FCMOVcc,
FCOMI, and RDPMC instructions guaranteed present.)


6. pentium_pro+mmx
Like pentium_pro, with the MMX instructions
guaranteed present.


7. amd64
The AMD Opteron instruction set, as described in
the AMD64 Architecture Programmer's Manual.

SEE ALSO

isalist(1), getisax(2), sysinfo(2)


March 20, 2008 ISALIST(7)