Transparent microprogramming in support of abstract type oriented dynamic vertical migration

Abstract

Migration of functionality into microcode for the purposes of performance improvement and increased security may be oriented toward the migration of abstract data types. This provides a model of migration consistent with current models of machine architecture. An advantage is that information in making migration decisions can be drawn from the programmer's model of his problem as encapsulated in the data types in the program. In addition, the migration can be sensitive to changes in type visibility in various execution environments of the program. The paper discusses language aspects of abstract type oriented migration (ATOM) and details a working prototype implementation. Ada is used as the source language in the description of ATOM but C is used in the prototype.

ASIC microprocessors

“…This function allocation is discussed in the following sections. 3 Levels of design decision that can be made Given the existence of a soft functional description in, say, Ada, the designer creates an architecture that satisfies performance objectives and those for reliability, producibility, cost, etc.2 This design can be done by accretion or attrition; for purposes of exposition, we assume the former. Also for simplicity, we ignore cycles in the process of functional description and architectural design as described in the previous section.…”

“…For example, current coprocessors use a simple interface based on the information that can be carried in a single machine instruction. Substantial integration of system design concepts can be accomplished [3] by increased freedom to bind abstract data types to whatever medium is most appropriate from an engineering point of view (including cost, performance, schedule, producibility, maintainability, evolvability, . .…”