Bruce wrote: >Modern processor designers face a dilemma. Instructions in hardware >(Bob R uses the term "in silicon") can be fast but once the processor is >released they are immutable; you can't change their operation without >replacing the chip at some fantastic expense. Instructions in millicode >are essentially software, loaded when the processor is PORed, so they >can be changed by an EC (Engineering Change) by replacing the millicode >disk. So the silicon instructions tend to be the more basic and most >frequently executed instructions, and others are in millicode.
Are customers given the option of paying more, for less millicode, sort of like paying more for the luxury features of a car? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
