The Growth of Interest in Microprogramming: A Literature Survey
ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR)
ACM '67 Proceedings of the 1967 22nd national conference
IBM Systems Journal
ACM SIGMICRO Newsletter
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
Classical instruction systems specify all functions, simple and complex, through the same mechanism. This paper describes a new organization in which more elementary operations are programmer specified by a second instruction set in micro-subroutines controlled by a subordinate instruction counter. Contingencies in the execution of primary instructions cause automatic seizure of control by the subordinate level and the execution of the appropriate microinstructions. At the completion of a micro-subroutine control reverts to the primary level for continuation of the suspended primary operation. Coding techniques, priority problems, and validity considerations are explored. The relationship of this system to interruption techniques and parallel instruction counters is discussed.