Review of "Bit-Slice Microprocessor Design by John Mick and James Brick", McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1980

Abstract

The book "Bit-Slice Microprocessor Design" is the result of Advanced Micro Devices "nine part course in microprogrammable microprocessing". As such it is based completely on the Am2900 family of LSI building blocks and shares some of the same material found in the "AMD 2900 Family Data Book" which also references this work. The material covered is presented as follows: Chapter I: Computer Architecture, is a brief, 8 page, discussion of basic CPU components, and architecture concepts with a presentation of the separate steps needed to execute an instruction. This is followed by a simple microarchitecture with a comparison between macro and micro machines. Chapter II: Microprogrammed Design, contains a short, 4 page, overview on sequencing concepts, which then is followed by a detailed explanation of the Am2910 microprogram controller. The remaining portion of this chapter is devoted to an example of a CRT controller complete with logic drawings, data paths, and microcode based on Am2910 and 2911 type devices and the AMDASM (trade mark of AMD) microcode assembler. Chapter III: The Data Path, contains a short, 5 page, introduction to ALU components and basic arithmetic concepts. This is followed by a detailed description of the Am290 I A, and 2903 slices, with an example of a 16 bit ALU using four Am2903 slices. Chapter IV: The Data Path-Part II, introduces the Am2904 Status and Shift Control Unit with a detailed microcode example. Chapter V: Program Control Unit, discusses memory interfacing with an example of the Am2930 sub-routine stack capability and a tradeoff discussion of the 2901A vrs. the 2903. Chapter VI: Interrupt, presents an overview of polling yrs. non-polling methods for handling interrupts with examples using the Am29114 Vectored Priority Interrupt Controller. Chapter VII: Direct Memory Access, is the final chapter on AMD components. The concept of direct memory access is introduced followed by a detailed explanation of the Am2940 DMA address generator, and AM2942 Programmable Timer/Counter DMA address generator. Chapter VII: HEX-29, is a detailed discussion of the HEX-29 CPU and System developed by Digital Micro-systems Inc. The HEX-29 is a microprogrammed 16 bit data flow (2901) with 4K of 64 bit microwords using the 2909 as a sequencer. Chapter VIII: Super Sixteen, contains another example of a macro/micro machine, built out of Am2903 ALU slices and an Am2910 sequencer chip with a 9 6 bit microword. In summary, Bit-Slice Microprocessor Design meets its objective of introducing microprogrammable bit-slice …