Abstract
The term vertical migration refers to a performance improvement technique in which the selected functions or program primitives are moved to an optimal lower level within the multiple levels (layers) of a software/firmware hierarchy on a single processor. Two types of architecture synthesis using microprogramming (vertical migration) are defined: functional architecture synthesis and problem-oriented architecture synthesis. In the first one we include two areas: operating systems and high-level-language-defined-processors. In the second two types of synthesis can be identified: heuristic approach and analytical approach. A rigorous methadology is described, within the analytical approach to tune the architecture of a dynamically microprogrammable computer to a given application in order to minimize its execution time. This method consists of the following steps: (1) a static analysis, (2) an analysis of the program's dynamic behaviour, (3) an evaluation of the time saving, and (4) a selection of those microprogrammable sequences with produce the greatest time saving in the program execution. © 1981.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 219-227 |
| Journal | Microprocessing and Microprogramming |
| Volume | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 1981 |
Keywords
- Dynamic microprogramming
- adaptable systems
- architecture adaptation
- problem-oriented design
- tuning architecture
- vertical migration