Title :
An embedded stack microprocessor for SDH telecommunication applications
Author :
Stadler, Manfred ; Thalmann, Markus ; Röwer, Thomas ; Felber, Norbert ; Fichtner, Wolfgang
Author_Institution :
Integrated Syst. Lab., Fed. Inst. of Technol., Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract :
In this paper we present an application-specific microprocessor core with a stack architecture optimized for use in broadband telecommunication ASICs. The microprocessor was integrated in an application on the same die as the complete data path of an SDH add-drop multiplexer (ADM). It handles over 1 million interrupts per second from 29 asynchronous sources. Due to this high interrupt rate extremely efficient context switching is required: only two extra cycles per interrupt call. The top four stack elements are directly accessable as registers and ALU instructions are computed in parallel with push or pop commands. An independent ALU for address processing enables compact and very efficient code generation. A prototype ASIC has been implemented in 0.8 μm CMOS technology
Keywords :
CMOS digital integrated circuits; application specific integrated circuits; embedded systems; microprocessor chips; multiplexing equipment; synchronous digital hierarchy; telecommunication computing; 0.8 micron; SDH telecommunication applications; add-drop multiplexer; address processing; application-specific microprocessor core; broadband telecommunication ASICs; code generation; context switching; embedded stack microprocessor; Add-drop multiplexers; Application specific integrated circuits; CMOS technology; Computer aided instruction; Concurrent computing; Microprocessors; Prototypes; Registers; Synchronous digital hierarchy; Telecommunication switching;
Conference_Titel :
Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, 1998. Proceedings of the IEEE 1998
Conference_Location :
Santa Clara, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-4292-5
DOI :
10.1109/CICC.1998.694899
