Foreword [to the Special Issue]

This Special Issue on Microprocessors and Microcomputers represents a joint effort of the IEEE Transactions on Computers and the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. Our goal was to integrate multiple aspects of current microprocessor and microcomputer work from circuits through applications. Thus, the papers in this special joint issue reflect many of the current issues in the microcomputer area. They generally fall into three categories: circuits, architecture, and applications. The circuits area is dominated by papers on special-purpose processing and support chips. no papers describing new digital microprocessors were submitted.