Suppose I have two 4-bit values, ABCD and abcd. How to interleave it, so it becomes AaBbCcDd, using bitwise operators? Example in pseudo-C:
nibble a = 0b1001;
nibble b = 0b1100;
char c = foo(a,b);
print_bits(c);
// output: 0b11010010
Note: 4 bits is just for illustration, I want to do this with two 32bit ints.
This is called the perfect shuffle operation, and it's discussed at length in the Bible Of Bit Bashing, Hacker's Delight by Henry Warren, section 7-2 "Shuffling Bits."
Assuming x is a 32-bit integer with a in its high-order 16 bits and b in its low-order 16 bits:
unsigned int x = (a << 16) | b; /* put a and b in place */
the following straightforward C-like code accomplishes the perfect shuffle:
x = (x & 0x0000FF00) << 8 | (x >> 8) & 0x0000FF00 | x & 0xFF0000FF;
x = (x & 0x00F000F0) << 4 | (x >> 4) & 0x00F000F0 | x & 0xF00FF00F;
x = (x & 0x0C0C0C0C) << 2 | (x >> 2) & 0x0C0C0C0C | x & 0xC3C3C3C3;
x = (x & 0x22222222) << 1 | (x >> 1) & 0x22222222 | x & 0x99999999;
He also gives an alternative form which is faster on some CPUs, and (I think) a little more clear and extensible:
unsigned int t; /* an intermediate, temporary variable */
t = (x ^ (x >> 8)) & 0x0000FF00; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 8);
t = (x ^ (x >> 4)) & 0x00F000F0; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 4);
t = (x ^ (x >> 2)) & 0x0C0C0C0C; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 2);
t = (x ^ (x >> 1)) & 0x22222222; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 1);
I see you have edited your question to ask for a 64-bit result from two 32-bit inputs. I'd have to think about how to extend Warren's technique. I think it wouldn't be too hard, but I'd have to give it some thought. If someone else wanted to start here and give a 64-bit version, I'd be happy to upvote them.
EDITED FOR 64 BITS
I extended the second solution to 64 bits in a straightforward way. First I doubled the length of each of the constants. Then I added a line at the beginning to swap adjacent double-bytes and intermix them. In the following 4 lines, which are pretty much the same as the 32-bit version, the first line swaps adjacent bytes and intermixes, the second line drops down to nibbles, the third line to double-bits, and the last line to single bits.
unsigned long long int t; /* an intermediate, temporary variable */
t = (x ^ (x >> 16)) & 0x00000000FFFF0000ull; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 16);
t = (x ^ (x >> 8)) & 0x0000FF000000FF00ull; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 8);
t = (x ^ (x >> 4)) & 0x00F000F000F000F0ull; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 4);
t = (x ^ (x >> 2)) & 0x0C0C0C0C0C0C0C0Cull; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 2);
t = (x ^ (x >> 1)) & 0x2222222222222222ull; x = x ^ t ^ (t << 1);
From Stanford "Bit Twiddling Hacks" page: https://graphics.stanford.edu/~seander/bithacks.html#InterleaveTableObvious
uint32_t x = /*...*/, y = /*...*/;
uint64_t z = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < sizeof(x) * CHAR_BIT; i++) // unroll for more speed...
{
z |= (x & 1U << i) << i | (y & 1U << i) << (i + 1);
}
Look at the page they propose different and faster algorithms to achieve the same.
Here is a loop-based solution that is hopefully more readable than some of the others already here.
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
uint64_t interleave(uint32_t a, uint32_t b) {
uint64_t result = 0;
int i;
for (i = 0; i < 31; i++) {
result |= (a >> (31 - i)) & 1;
result <<= 1;
result |= (b >> (31 - i)) & 1;
result <<= 1;
}
// Skip the last left shift.
result |= (a >> (31 - i)) & 1;
result <<= 1;
result |= (b >> (31 - i)) & 1;
return result;
}
void printBits(uint64_t a) {
int i;
for (i = 0; i < 64; i++)
printf("%lu", (a >> (63 - i)) & 1);
puts("");
}
int main(){
uint32_t a = 0x9;
uint32_t b = 0x6;
uint64_t c = interleave(a,b);
printBits(a);
printBits(b);
printBits(c);
}
Like so:
#include <limits.h>
typedef unsigned int half;
typedef unsigned long long full;
full mix_bits(half a,half b)
{
full result = 0;
for (int i=0; i<sizeof(half)*CHAR_BIT; i++)
result |= (((a>>i)&1)<<(2*i+1))|(((b>>i)&1)<<(2*i+0));
return result;
}
I have used the 2 tricks/operations used in this post How do you set, clear, and toggle a single bit? of setting a bit at particular index and checking the bit at particular index.
The following code is implemented using these 2 operations only.
int a = 0b1001;
int b = 0b1100;
long int c=0;
int index; //To specify index of c
int bit,i;
//Set bits in c from right to left.
for(i=32;i>=0;i--)
{
index=2*i+1; //We have to add the bit in c at this index
//Check a
bit=a&(1<<i); //Checking whether the i-th bit is set in a
if(bit)
c|=1<<index; //Setting bit in c at index
index--;
//Check b
bit=b&(1<<i); //Checking whether the i-th bit is set in b
if(bit)
c|=1<<index; //Setting bit in c at index
}
printf("%ld",c);
Output: 210 which is 0b11010010
