xref: /llvm-project/llvm/docs/GlobalISel/KnownBits.rst (revision 72fd1033ea577a769cc855fde6b5576b82380715)
1Known Bits Analysis
2===================
3
4The Known Bits Analysis pass makes information about the known values of bits
5available to other passes to enable transformations like those in the examples
6below. The information is lazily computed so you should only pay for what you
7use.
8
9Examples
10--------
11
12A simple example is that transforming::
13
14  a + 1
15
16into::
17
18  a | 1
19
20is only valid when the addition doesn't carry. In other words it's only valid
21if ``a & 1`` is zero.
22
23Another example is:
24
25.. code-block:: none
26
27  %1:(s32) = G_CONSTANT i32 0xFF0
28  %2:(s32) = G_AND %0, %1
29  %3:(s32) = G_CONSTANT i32 0x0FF
30  %4:(s32) = G_AND %2, %3
31
32We can use the constants and the definition of ``G_AND`` to determine the known
33bits:
34
35.. code-block:: none
36
37                                   ; %0 = 0x????????
38  %1:(s32) = G_CONSTANT i32 0xFF0  ; %1 = 0x00000FF0
39  %2:(s32) = G_AND %0, %1          ; %2 = 0x00000??0
40  %3:(s32) = G_CONSTANT i32 0x0FF  ; %3 = 0x000000FF
41  %4:(s32) = G_AND %2, %3          ; %4 = 0x000000?0
42
43and then use this to simplify the expression:
44
45.. code-block:: none
46
47                                   ; %0 = 0x????????
48  %5:(s32) = G_CONSTANT i32 0x0F0  ; %5 = 0x00000FF0
49  %4:(s32) = G_AND %0, %5          ; %4 = 0x000000?0
50
51Note that ``%4`` still has the same known bits as before the transformation.
52Many transformations share this property. The main exception being when the
53transform causes undefined bits to become defined to either zero, one, or
54defined but unknown.
55
56Usage
57-----
58
59To use Known Bits Analysis in a pass, first include the header and register the
60dependency with ``INITIALIZE_PASS_DEPENDENCY``.
61
62.. code-block:: c++
63
64  #include "llvm/CodeGen/GlobalISel/GISelKnownBits.h"
65
66  ...
67
68  INITIALIZE_PASS_BEGIN(...)
69  INITIALIZE_PASS_DEPENDENCY(GISelKnownBitsAnalysis)
70  INITIALIZE_PASS_END(...)
71
72and require the pass in ``getAnalysisUsage``.
73
74.. code-block:: c++
75
76  void MyPass::getAnalysisUsage(AnalysisUsage &AU) const {
77    AU.addRequired<GISelKnownBitsAnalysis>();
78    // Optional: If your pass preserves known bits analysis (many do) then
79    //           indicate that it's preserved for re-use by another pass here.
80    AU.addPreserved<GISelKnownBitsAnalysis>();
81  }
82
83Then it's just a matter of fetching the analysis and using it:
84
85.. code-block:: c++
86
87  bool MyPass::runOnMachineFunction(MachineFunction &MF) {
88    ...
89    GISelKnownBits &KB = getAnalysis<GISelKnownBitsAnalysis>().get(MF);
90    ...
91    MachineInstr *MI = ...;
92    KnownBits Known = KB->getKnownBits(MI->getOperand(0).getReg());
93    if (Known.Zeros & 1) {
94      // Bit 0 is known to be zero
95    }
96    ...
97  }
98
99There are many more API's beyond ``getKnownBits()``. See the `API reference
100<https://llvm.org/doxygen>`_ for more information
101