Microprocessor Design

This book will teach students how to design digital logic circuits, specifically combinational and sequential circuits. Students will learn how to put these two types of circuits together to form dedicated and general-purpose microprocessors. This book is unique in that it combines the use of logic principles and the building of individual components to create data paths and control units, and finally the building of real dedicated custom microprocessors and general-purpose microprocessors. After understanding the material in the book, students will be able to design simple microprocessors and implement them in real hardware.

The term superscalar describes a computer architecture that achieves performance by concurrent execution of scalar instructions. Superscalar architectures represent the next step in the evolution of microprocessors. This book is intended as a technical tutorial and introduction for engineers & computer scientists. The book concentrates on reduced instruction set (RISC) processors.

If you have the right tools, designing a microprocessor shouldnt be complicated. The Verilog hardware description language (HDL) is one such tool. It can enable you to depict, simulate, and synthesise an electronic design, and thus increase your productivity by reducing the overall workload associated with a given project. Monte Dalrymples Microprocessor Design Using Verilog HDL is a practical guide to processor design in the real world. It presents the Verilog HDL in an easily digestible fashion and serves as a thorough introduction about reducing a computer architecture and instruction set to practice. Youre led through the microprocessor design process from start to finish, and essential topics ranging from writing in Verilog to debugging and testing are laid bare. The book details the following, and more: Verilog HDL Review: data types, bit widths/labelling, operations, statements, and design hierarchy; Verilog Coding Style: files vs. modules, indentation, and design organisation; Design Work: instruction set architecture, external bus interface, and machine cycle; Microarchitecture: design spreadsheet and essential worksheets (eg: Operation, Instruction Code, and Next State); Writing in Verilog: choosing encoding, assigning states in a state machine, and files (eg: defines.v, hierarchy.v, machine.v); Debugging, Verification, and Testing: debugging requirements, verification requirements, testing requirements, and the test bench; Post Simulation: enhancements and reduction to practice.

Gain a Working Knowledge of the Entire Microprocessor Design Flow This unique step-by-step guide is a complete introduction to modern microprocessor design, explained in simple nontechnical language without complex mathematics. An ideal primer for those working in or studying the semiconductor industry, Microprocessor Design explains all the key concepts, terms, and acronyms needed to understand the steps required to design and manufacture a microprocessor. Developed from a successful corporate training course, this hands-on learning guide walks readers through every step of microprocessor design. You'll follow a new processor product from initial planning through design to production. In Microprocessor Design, the author converts his real-world design and teaching experience into an easy-to-follow reference employing an on-the-job-training approach to cover: The evolution of microprocessors Microprocessor design planning Architecture and microarchitecture Logic design and circuit design Semiconductor manufacturing Processor packaging and test This authoritative reference is an excellent introduction for students or engineers new to processor design and can show industry veterans how their specialty fits into the overall design flow. This accessible and practical guide will provide the reader with a broad working knowledge of the concepts of microprocessor design, as well as an understanding of the individual steps in the process and the jargon used by the industry.

This textbook for courses in Embedded Systems introduces students to necessary concepts, through a hands-on approach. It gives a great introduction to FPGA-based microprocessor system design using state-of-the-art boards, tools, and microprocessors from Altera/Intel® and Xilinx®. HDL-based designs (soft-core), parameterized cores (Nios II and MicroBlaze), and ARM Cortex-A9 design are discussed, compared and explored using many hand-on designs projects. Custom IP for HDMI coder, Floating-point operations, and FFT bit-swap are developed, implemented, tested and speed-up is measured. Downloadable files include all design examples such as basic processor synthesizable code for Xilinx and Altera tools for PicoBlaze, MicroBlaze, Nios II and ARMv7 architectures in VHDL and Verilog code, as well as the custom IP projects. Each Chapter has a substantial number of short quiz questions, exercises, and challenging projects. Explains soft, parameterized, and hard core systems design tradeoffs; Demonstrates design of popular KCPSM6 8 Bit microprocessor step-by-step; Discusses the 32 Bit ARM Cortex-A9 and a basic processor is synthesized; Covers design flows for both FPGA Market leaders Nios II Altera/Intel and MicroBlaze Xilinx system; Describes Compiler-Compiler Tool development; Includes a substantial number of Homework’s and FPGA exercises and design projects in each chapter.

Computer Systems Organization -- Computer System Implementation.

This volume starts with a description of the metrics and benchmarks used to design energy-efficient microprocessor systems, followed by energy-efficient methodologies for the architecture and circuit design, DC-DC conversion, energy-efficient software and system integration.

Conceptual and precise, Modern Processor Design brings together numerous microarchitectural techniques in a clear, understandable framework that is easily accessible to both graduate and undergraduate students. Complex practices are distilled into foundational principles to reveal the authors insights and hands-on experience in the effective design of contemporary high-performance micro-processors for mobile, desktop, and server markets. Key theoretical and foundational principles are presented in a systematic way to ensure comprehension of important implementation issues. The text presents fundamental concepts and foundational techniques such as processor design, pipelined processors, memory and I/O systems, and especially superscalar organization and implementations. Two case studies and an extensive survey of actual commercial superscalar processors reveal real-world developments in processor design and performance. A thorough overview of advanced instruction flow techniques, including developments in advanced branch predictors, is incorporated. Each chapter concludes with homework problems that will institute the groundwork for emerging techniques in the field and an introduction to multiprocessor systems.

"This book … uniquely synthesizes Professor Milutinovi???’s thinking on the important issues in computer architecture … The result is a necessarily somewhat eclectic, personal statement by one of the leaders of the field." —Michael J. Flynn, Stanford University From the Foreword "How do we invest one billion transistors on a single chip?" asks Veljko Milutinovi??? as he ponders the ultimate goal of an entire distributed shared memory (DSM)—plus numerous specialized accelerators—on a single chip. He then goes on to present a lively personal account, complete with survival tips, of his experiences in the front line of the rapidly evolving arena of microprocessor and multimicroprocessor system design. Focusing on areas critical to the future of system-on-a-chip design, Milutinovi??? combines his unique perspective with authoritative discussions of cache, instruction level parallelism, prediction strategies, the I/O bottleneck, multithreading, and multiprocessors. He reinforces concepts using three case studies of his own computer system/accelerator implementations with additional details available through Web-based appendices. A key DSM concept, Reflective Memory System (RMS), and tools for evaluating new architectural ideas or characterizing applications are also covered in appendices. Designed for fast, easy comprehension, Surviving the Design of Microprocessor and Multimicroprocessor Systems integrates clear, up-to-date explanations with a wealth of figures and a thorough review of the technical literature. It brings readers up to speed with concepts essential for implementing their own ideas, while addressing the most important issues facing scientists and engineers in advanced computer design.