System for restoring predicate registers via a mask having at least a single bit corresponding to a plurality of registers

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for restoring a predicate register set. One embodiment of the invention includes decoding a first instruction which specifies a restoring operation to be performed on a predicate register set. In response to the first instruction, a mask is used to select a plurality of the predicate registers that are to be restored. The mask of the present invention consists of a first set of bits, with each bit of the first set of bits corresponding to a register in the predicate register set. When a bit of the first set of bits is set to one, the predicate register corresponding to that bit is restored. In one embodiment, the mask further includes one bit corresponding to a plurality of registers in the predicate register set, wherein when that bit is set to one, the plurality of registers corresponding to that bit are restored.