DATAPATH AND CONTROL
In the earlier chapters, we examined the computer at the Application Level, the High Level Language level, and the Assembly Language level (as shown in Figure 1-4.) In Chapter 4 we introduced the concept of an ISA: an instruction set that effects operations on registers and memory. In this chapter, we explore the part of the machine that is responsible for implementing these operations: the control unit of the CPU. In this context, we view the machine at the microarchitecture level (the Microprogrammed/Hardwired Control level in Figure 1-4.) The microarchitecture consists of the control unit and the programmer-visible registers, functional units such as the ALU, and any additional registers that may be required by the control unit.
A given ISA may be implemented with different microarchitectures. For example, the Intel Pentium ISA has been implemented in different ways, all of which support the same ISA. Not only Intel, but a number of competitors such as AMD and Cyrix have implemented Pentium ISAs. A certain microarchitecture might stress high instruction execution speed, while another stresses low power consumption, and another, low processor cost. Being able to modify the microarchitecture while keeping the ISA unchanged means that processor vendors can take advantage of new IC and memory technology while affording the user upward compatibility for their software investment. Programs run unchanged on different processors as long as the processors implement the same ISA, regardless of the underlying microarchitectures.
In this chapter we examine two polarizingly different microarchitecture approaches: microprogrammed control units and hardwired control units, and we examine them by showing how a subset of the ARC processor can be implemented using these two design techniques.
6.1 Basic s of the Microarchitecture
The functionality of the microarchitecture centers around the fetch-execute cycle, which is in some sense the “heart” of the machine. As discussed in Chapter 4, the steps involved in the fetch-execute cycle are:
1) Fetch the next instruction to be executed from memory.
2) Decode the opcode.
3) Read operand(s) from main memory or registers, if any.
4) Execute the instruction and store results.
5) Go to Step 1.
It is the microarchitecture that is responsible for making these five steps happen. The microarchitecture fetches the next instruction to be executed, determines which instruction it is, fetches the operands, executes the instruction, stores the results, and then repeats.
The microarchitecture consists of a data section which contains registers and an ALU, and a control section, as illustrated in Figure 6-1. The data section is also
referred to as the datapath. Microprogrammed control uses a a special purpose microprogram, not visible to the user, to implement operations on the registers and on other parts of the machine. Often, the microprogram contains many pro- gram steps that collectively implement a single (macro)instruction. Hardwired control units adopt the view that the steps to be taken to implement an opera- tion comprise states in a finite state machine, and the design proceeds using conventional digital design methods (such as the methods covered in Appendix A.) In either case, the datapath remains largely unchanged, although there may be minor differences to support the differing forms of control. In designing the ARC control unit, the microprogrammed approach will be explored first, and then the hardwired approach, and for both cases the datapath will remain unchanged.