Abstract
The Finite State Machine controller in an FSMD is nonprogrammable. By substituting this FSM for a programmable controller, you obtain a microprogrammed architecture. The advantage of a programmable architecture is obviously the flexibility to implement multiple functionalities. This chapter discusses the design of microprogrammed controllers and datapaths, and it explains the advantages and limitations of microprogramming. In particular, you will see that complex, pipelined datapaths are not easy to handle because of the bare-bones approach to control.
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Schaumont, P.R. (2010). Microprogrammed Architectures. In: A Practical Introduction to Hardware/Software Codesign. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6000-9_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6000-9_5
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