What is the fastest way to transpose the bits in an 8x8 block on bits?

This code is cribbed directly from "Hacker's Delight" - Figure 7-2 Transposing an 8x8-bit matrix, I take no credit for it:

void transpose8(unsigned char A[8], int m, int n, 
                unsigned char B[8]) {
   unsigned x, y, t; 

   // Load the array and pack it into x and y. 

   x = (A[0]<<24)   | (A[m]<<16)   | (A[2*m]<<8) | A[3*m]; 
   y = (A[4*m]<<24) | (A[5*m]<<16) | (A[6*m]<<8) | A[7*m]; 

   t = (x ^ (x >> 7)) & 0x00AA00AA;  x = x ^ t ^ (t << 7); 
   t = (y ^ (y >> 7)) & 0x00AA00AA;  y = y ^ t ^ (t << 7); 

   t = (x ^ (x >>14)) & 0x0000CCCC;  x = x ^ t ^ (t <<14); 
   t = (y ^ (y >>14)) & 0x0000CCCC;  y = y ^ t ^ (t <<14); 

   t = (x & 0xF0F0F0F0) | ((y >> 4) & 0x0F0F0F0F); 
   y = ((x << 4) & 0xF0F0F0F0) | (y & 0x0F0F0F0F); 
   x = t; 

   B[0]=x>>24;    B[n]=x>>16;    B[2*n]=x>>8;  B[3*n]=x; 
   B[4*n]=y>>24;  B[5*n]=y>>16;  B[6*n]=y>>8;  B[7*n]=y; 
}

I didn't check if this rotates in the direction you need, if not you might need to adjust the code.

Also, keep in mind datatypes & sizes - int & unsigned (int) might not be 32 bits on your platform.

BTW, I suspect the book (Hacker's Delight) is essential for the kind of work you're doing... check it out, lots of great stuff in there.


If you are looking for the simplest solution:

/* not tested, not even compiled */

char bytes_in[8];
char bytes_out[8];

/* please fill bytes_in[] here with some pixel-crap */

memset(bytes_out, 0, 8);
for(int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
    for(int j = 0; j < 8; j++) {
        bytes_out[i] = (bytes_out[i] << 1) | ((bytes_in[j] >> (7 - i)) & 0x01);
    }
}

If your are looking for the fastest solution:

How to transpose a bit matrix in the assembly by utilizing SSE2.


This sounds a lot like a so-called "Chunky to planar" routine used on displays that use bitplanes. The following link uses MC68K assembler for its code, but provides a nice overview of the problem (assuming I understood the question correctly):

http://membres.multimania.fr/amycoders/sources/c2ptut.html