Bit-slice Research Articles

High-speed, multi-word data processing by means of microprocessor based architecture

Performing complex computations on data coming from fast acquisition processes can be achieved by means of a μP based architecture. While μP controls acquisition processes, a bit-slice ALU performs computation on data coming. Two different architectures are then presented. The former employs the bit-slice ALU with its own microcontroller; the latter considers the bit-slice ALU as an external support to the μP's ALU. An application involving voice signal compression is also presented. Compression is achieved by means of Walsh-Hadamard transform (WHT). A comparison between WHT and linear predictive coding is also presented.

A Bit-Slice Microprocessor System for Teaching Microprogramming

This paper describes a microprocessor development system, which was designed for demonstrating the use of bit-slice microprocessors, for teaching microprogramming and for simulating other small microprocessors. The system contains two 2901 bit-slice microprocessors together with the necessary control and sequencing logic, a 256 × 56 bit microprogram control memory, a macromemory with associated address and interface registers, and an interface to an MDS-80 microcomputer development system. A monitor program which runs on the MDS-80 controls the execution of the 2901 microprograms. This monitor provides for loading microprograms, examining and changing both the microprogram and macroprogram memory, examining and changing 2901 internal registers, setting breakpoints, and tracing microprogram execution. The monitor also provides an interactive editor for altering microprograms. A cross-assembler for the 2901 microcode was also developed. This cross-assembler accepts inputs in a register-transfer format and generates the 56-bit wide microcode words ready for loading into the 2901 control memory. Student projects which have been completed using the system range in difficulty from a binary multiplier to an emulator for the M6800 microprocessor instruction set. The system is easy to use, is relatively low in cost, and has proven to be a valuable educational tool.

A Bit-Sliced Computer Design Laboratnry

A laboratory course in computer organization and design based on the use of bit-sliced microprocessor parts is described. Course objectives are given and the course content is presented. The special laboratory facility developed for the course, which is a microcomputer-based system, is described. Experience in operating the course over the first year is discussed, and plans for the future are outlined.

Bit-slice microprocessors in h.f. digital communications

A 2.4 kbit/s baseband modem is being designed for use at h.f., incorporating modulation/demodulation techniques that are matched to those frequencies and the problems associated with them. Fed by a continuous serial datastream, the modulator functions are implemented wholly by a bit-slice microprocessor, and controlled by another more conventional microprocessor. Analogue output waveforms are generated in a d/a converter, which is driven by the bit-slice machine. Demodulation is performed in a similar device, using an a/d input and giving a serial output.

An introduction to bit-slice microprocessors

Bit-slice microprocessors are the answer to the prayer of the engineer who needs to build a computer with greater power than that offered by today's microprocessors at a cost comparable with microprocessor systems

Towards a more flexible microlanguage for bit-sliced microcomputers

Towards a more flexible microlanguage for bit-sliced microcomputers

Development aid programs for bit-slice based systems

Though bipolar or bit-slice microprocessors offer a considerable advantage in execution speed and processing capability, it is generally very hard to get them operational. The difficulty usually resides in the complexity of the microinstructions (several tons of bits) and the intimate relationship between them and the hardware for which they are intended. This report describes a set of programs designed to facilitate microprogramming in the case of systems based on AM2901 units. The set consists of a hardware specification program, an outer program for microprograms written in an ad hoc symbolic language, a program to simulate the execution of symbolic microprograms, an assembly program and an optimisation program. The use of these programs has made it possible to obtain a considerable reduction in the cost of multiprogrammed systems, at both development and maintenance level.

Function-microcomputers for computer graphics

A wide range of microprocessor, memory and interface circuits with ever improving specifications and decreasing prices permits us to build efficient and inexpensive microcomputers. These devices are therefore particularly suited as special-purpose modules in many areas of data processing. This report offers a design for a net of closely coupled special-purpose microcomputers in computer graphics. This system performs utility functions for device-independent and terminal dependent graphics. It also serves to emulate certain higher-level functions for output and input handling. Because speed requirements differ greatly, both MOS and bit-slice microprocessors can be applied. Applying dynamically microprogrammable processors will permit run-time changes in the function repertoire. This facility is used for emulation and high-level graphics instructions at the microcode level.

GD80—A multi-microprocessor architecture for computer graphics

GD80 is a modular family of refresh, vector-type graphic displays. Five microprocessors for different tasks communicate on two separate busses using interprocessors interrupts, memory windows and shared memory with hardware supported mutual exclusion. Two identical 8 bit microprocessors are dedicated for peripheral handling and communication, two 16 bit microprogrammable bit-slice processors for picture generation and display list processing, and a 48 bit one for fast floating point arithmetic calculations and matrix-vector transformations. This paper describes the main building blocks, the multiprocessing methods and some typical configurations built using the modules.

An improved economic design for a display processor intermixing refresh and storage graphics

Several designs have tried to capitalize on the rudimentary refresh-capabilities of the Tektronix 4014/4015 display terminal by augmenting the hardware with a microprocessor and program and display memory. This paper scrutinizes the existing implementations and offers an alternative based on a Zilog Z80 as the heart of the display processor, a direct-memory access channel to the display terminal for picture data transfer, and a parallel I/O interface between display processor and host computer. In a second stage this alternative will be extended with hardware to support coordinate transformations. This hardware is centered around an AM2903 bit-sliced microprocessor. This collection of hardware enhancements is such that the shortcomings in most existing designs are circumvented and the load on the host computer is minimized. It provides flexible refresh capabilities with selective update, limited possibilities for matrix transformation, as well as display support for storage graphics, at affordable prices.

Microcomputer System Laboratory Course in a University Environment

A two-part microcomputer system laboratory course at the Technical University of Munich is presented. The course introduces the students into organization and programming of two basically different microcomputer systems which are based on a microprocessor with fixed instruction set (Intel 8080) and on a fast user-microprogrammable bit-slice microprocessor (Am 2900). Both systems are used in real-time projects. The 8080 system performs an experimental verification of the "inclined plane" problem and the 2900 system acts as a real-time balance for weighing the model of a railway wagon.

A Modular Microprocessor System

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an overview of GD80—a modular microprocessor system. GD80 is a modular microprocessor system, intended basically for CAD systems. Five microprocessors for different tasks communicate on two separate buses using interprocessor interrupts, memory windows, and shared memory with hardware supported mutual exclusion. Two identical 8-bit microprocessors are dedicated for peripheral handling and communication, two 16-bit microprogrammable bit slice processors for application programming and special data processing, and a 48-bit one for fast floating point arithmetic calculations and matrix-vector transformations. The general architecture of the GD80 system is also illustrated in the chapter.

Design and implementation of a flexible and interactive microprogram simulator

In the present paper a microprogrammable architecture oriented simulator is described. This simulator structure may be logically subdivided in four independent blocks: Supervisor, Interface Module, Simulation Monitor, Simulation Routines. A high degree of flexibility is obtained by means of a highly hierarchical structure of software and an easy-to-modify table-driven system description. Moreover particular care has been devoted to user-simulator communication via an easy-to-use command language. The use of the simulator in the development of a microprogrammable machine (based on Am2900 bit-slice microprocessors) is described.

New Products

A new dual-density magnetic-tape formatter, the 9X00F from the Kennedy Company, employs a bipolar bit-slice microprocessor to allow signature analysis, improve control, and reduce the number of ICs required.

Microprogrammable digital filter implementation using bipolar microprocessors

The paper describes an implementation technique for digital filters based on the use of microprogrammable bipolar bit-slice microprocessors. The filter characteristics are determined by a set of microprograms stored in a programmable read-only memory, a particular filter response being selected by calling up an appropriate microprogram. Fast operation can be achieved by a ternary coding of the filter coefficients plus the use of the bipolar technology, whilst the use of microprogrammable bit-slice computing elements gives a high degree of flexibility. By making use of the redundancies introduced due to the restricted microinstruction set required to compute the filter algorithm, and the simple sequencing requirements of the microprograms, system complexity can be considerably reduced.

Bit-slice microprocessors—their use and application in minicomputers

Although the effort necessary to develop an effective bit-slice-microprocessor microprogrammed design initially seems significant, the benefits far outweigh the investment. After microprogramming techniques are developed, new applications become much easier to accomplish. Although a designer may have to learn new methods, once mastered, a very powerful design tool can be applied to solving complex data processing or control communication systems

Front-End Data Processing Using the Bit-Sliced Microprocessor

A state-of-the-art computing device, based upon the high-speed bit-sliced microprocessor, has been developed into hardware for front-end data processing in both control and experiment applications at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. The CAMAC Instrunentation Standard provides the framework for the high-speed halrdware, allowing data acquisition and processing to take place at the data source in a CAMAC crate.

Japanese IC technology in speech recognition and audio response

Present status and some potentiality of IC technology in Japan are overviewed. Application strategies of those IC's to each functional block of speech recognizer and audio response system are discussed. The technology level appears close to that of the U. S. as for plain standard IC's, while it is far behind for those for special purpose applications. This has led us to microprocessor approach rather than developing dedicated LSI's. Further, this approach gives us the capability of system evolution. Actual examples of recently developed systems are described. One is a multimicroprocessor spoken word recognizer based upon the dynamic programming algorithm optimization [H. Sakoe and S. Chiba, IEEE Trans. ASSP‐26, No. 1 (1978)]. The central processor which controls the whole system and makes final decision consists of bipolar bitslice microprocessors. The I/O interface processor is 8080. The other example is a microprocessor controlled singleboard speech synthesizer [K. Fushikida and K. Ochiai, IECE of Japan National Meeting (March 1978)].

Mainframe Implementation With Off-The-Shelf LSI Modules

Bit-sliced microprocessor parallel design for Sperry Univac 1108 improves performance, reduces build cost, and detects most faults.

Bit-Slice Microprocessors

During the last five years of their existence, microprocessors proved to be the most versatile electronic product which can be used in any conceivable application requiring manipulation of data and flexibility in control. The factors that contributed towards their popularity are simplicity, small size, and low cost. Bit-slice microprocessors significantly helped to widen the range of microprocessor applications. Currently available bit-slice microprocessors are 2-or 4-bit wide and number of bit-slices can be stacked together to realize more powerful CPUs with higher wordlengths. Because of this multi-chip configuration, the overall power dissipation is higher and bipolar technology could be used for fabrication of bit-slice microprces sors as against MOS technology, resulting in higher speeds of about 40 ns clock rates. Bit-slice microprocessors are microprogrammable, thus providing flexibility in CPU design to suit to a specific application. A brief insight into operation of bit-slice microprocessors is ...