Evaluation and Implementation of a Functional Microprogram Generator

摘要

When a programmer writes a microprogram, as a part of a machine's instruction set or to implement an algorithm in microcode for faster execution, he must be concerned with the smallest details of the hardware in the machine. Microprogramming exists at the lowest (closest to the machine) level and is the most tedious computer language to program. In the field of computer design, where microprogramming is used most extensively, designers use microprogramming to perfect instruction sets and to optimize frequently used routines. A computer-aided design tool called a microcode generator is proposed in this thesis. It is an interactive, menu-driven functional programming tool. The user builds a microroutine by selecting functions from a series of menus as they are presented in a logical sequence. It is implemented in the language C on the Naval Postgraduate School Computer Science Department's VAX 780 computer using the Unix program development system components. The microcode generator is designed to produce microroutines targeted for a specific machine, the Am29203 Evaluation Board, an ALU implemented in bit-slice components. (Author).