Microprogrammed control of an associative processor

Abstract

This thesis reports on research conducted into the microprogrammed control of associative processors. A study of the microprogrammed control of processor systems containing multiple resources acting in parallel and cooperating with each other was made. This led to the design and development of a simple associative processor using Digital Equipment Corporation Register Transfer Modules and some additional custom logic.

The results and experiences gained from the implementation of the microprogrammed control unit for this associative processor led to a proposal for a more generalised microprogrammed control unit eliminating a number of drawbacks and difficulties discovered with the design approach. A number of optimization techniques were developed for control units based on this design.