Kuredjian, Michael wrote:
I may have mis-used the term "cover-up." What I meant was that they[IBM] could release software patches that specifically avoid making use of broken circuits in silicon. However, I wasn't aware that mainframe developers routinely make use of micro-assembly instructions, thereby revealing hardware bugs quickly.
Fixing "broken" instructions is one potential use of millicode. If the "broken" instruction is already implemented in millicode, the millicode is simply corrected. If it's implemented in hardware, millicode can intercept its execution and make changes as appropriate. A millicode intercept will usually slow the instruction way down. Better it runs slowly and correctly than quickly and incorrectly.
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