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Microarchitecture description techniques

Published:05 October 1982Publication History
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Abstract

A procedure is outlined for describing the microarchitecture of a horizontal processor such that a retargetable Microprogram Compiler System can incorporate the description to generate microcode for that processor. The microarchitecture description methodology is an organized approach to defining a machine's microinstruction formats, fields, and microorders; its hardware elements; its microoperation usage rules; and its behavioral rules. To a large extent, the description procedure can be performed interactively. The link between the microarchitecture description and the microprogram compiler, termed the instruction set interpretation mechanism, is also described. Preliminary application of the microarchitecture description methodology to several real processors has shown that, despite some problems, the procedure shows promise for significantly reducing the time required to retarget a microprogram compiler.

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            • Published in

              cover image ACM SIGMICRO Newsletter
              ACM SIGMICRO Newsletter  Volume 13, Issue 4
              Dec. 1982
              169 pages
              ISSN:1050-916X
              DOI:10.1145/1014194
              Issue’s Table of Contents

              Copyright © 1982 Authors

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              Association for Computing Machinery

              New York, NY, United States

              Publication History

              • Published: 5 October 1982

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