Title :
Microcode processing: Positioning and directions
Author :
Vassiliadis, Stamatis ; Wong, Stephan ; Cotofana, Sorin
Author_Institution :
Delft Univ. of Technol., Netherlands
Abstract :
Microcode is an important innovation in computer engineering. the authors discuss the evolution of microcode from its introduction to its decline and to its likely resurgence in custom computing machines. Furthermore, they present a microcoded machine augmented with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and provide experimental evidence that it can substantially increase the performance of some media benchmarks.
Keywords :
firmware; microprogramming; FPGAs; computer engineering; custom computing machines; microcode; microcoded machine; Assembly systems; Decoding; Delay; Flip-flops; Pulse generation; Registers; Signal generators; Timing;
Journal_Title :
Micro, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/MM.2003.1225960
