paste

Paste

paste RA, RB

Transfers data from the copy buffer to a specified memory location.

Encoding

Binary Layout

31

0:5

/

6:10

RA

11:15

RB

16:20

770

21:30

/

31

 

Format X-form

Opcode 0x7C00070C

Extension Privileged

Operands

• RA
  Dest
• RB
  Control
• L
  Logical flag (0 or 1)

Example

paste r4, r5

Registers Altered

CR0, XERSO

Related

More in Privileged

Reference

View in PowerISA v3.1C Specification ↗ OPF Power ISA v3.1C

Description

Transfers data from the processor's copy buffer to a memory location specified by the effective address formed from RA and RB. This instruction is part of the Copy/Paste facility and requires special kernel/hypervisor support. The L operand controls paste behavior (0=non-atomic, 1=atomic).

Operation

EA ← (RA) + (RB)
if L = 1 then
  Paste_Atomic(EA, Copy_Buffer)
else
  Paste_NonAtomic(EA, Copy_Buffer)

Extended Mnemonics

Extended Mnemonic	Equivalent Instruction

Programming Note

The paste instruction is commonly used to transfer data from the copy buffer to memory. Ensure that the effective address (EA) calculated from RA and RB is correctly aligned for optimal performance. If L=1, be aware that metadata bits in the copy buffer are cleared before the transfer, which might affect subsequent operations relying on these bits.