Issue No. 11 - November (1985 vol. 34)
ISSN: 0018-9340
pp: 1057-1061
N.N. Biswas , Department of Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Science
ABSTRACT
The microcommands constituting the microprogram of the control memory of a microprogrammed processor can be partitioned into a number of disjoint sets. Some of these sets are then encoded to minimize the word width of the ROM storing the microprogram. A further reduction in the width of the ROM words can be achieved by a technique known as bit steering where one or more bits are shared by two or more sets of microcommands. These sets are called the steerable sets. This correspondence presents a simple method for the detection and encoding of steerable sets. It has been shown that the concurrency matrix of two steerable sets exhibits definite patterns of clusters which can be easily recognized. A relation "connection" has been defined which helps in the detection of three-set steerability. Once steerable sets are identified, their encoding becomes a straightforward procedure following the location of the identifying clusters on the concurrency matrix or matrices.
INDEX TERMS
ROM compaction, Bit minimization, bit steering, control memory, microprogramming, minimization
CITATION

N. Biswas, "On Bit Steering in the Minimization of the Control Memory of Microprogrammed Processors," in IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 34, no. , pp. 1057-1061, 1985.
doi:10.1109/TC.1985.1676539