Executing digital signal processing (DSP) instructions in a digital signal processor integrated circuit comprising receiving a DSP instruction in digital signal processor integrated circuit to process one or more complex number operands; fetching a first operand with a first data type, the first operand having real and imaginary values with a complex data type; fetching a second operand with a second data type; prior to executing a DSP operation, determining a permutation of the first operand, the second operand, or both the first operand and the second operand, and permuting instances of the first operand, the second operand, or both the first operand and the second operand to execute the DSP operation; and executing the DSP operation in the digital signal processor integrated circuit using the first operand and the second operand to obtain a result, the result having real and imaginary values with a complex data type.