Microprogrammed Control Unit: Generating Control Signals for Execution - Essay Sample

Introduction

A microprogrammed control unit is considered as a relatively simple logic circuit which can generate control signals so that each microinstruction can be executed and to sequence via microinstructions. Microprogram's concept is the same as that of a computer program where the full instructions of an application are stored in the primary memory when it is being executed; it fetches instructions from memory one after another. The fetch of the instruction sequence is, therefore, controlled by the program counter.

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The microprograms are often stored in a memory, and the microprogram counter (PC) controls the execution. Each data line or the output line of the memory of the microprogram must correspond to one control signal (Tanenbaum, 2016). For instance, if the content of any memory cell is hard to be indicated or is not shown, the system will show that the signal is to be generated. However, if the memory cell's content is 1, then the system will notify that the processor should generate that control signal at that given period (Furber, 2017). Microprogrammed control is, therefore, classified under subunits such as the micro-operations, microarchitecture, and instruction set architecture as well as computer performance.

Micro-Operations

In the central processing units of a computer, micro-operations or micro-ops are the atomic or functional operations of a processor. The micro-ops are low-level instructions which are operative in some designs to implement machine instructions which seem to be complicated. They perform operations on stored information or data in either one or more registers. Also, they transfer data between the CPU's external buses or between logs, as well as performing logical and arithmetic operations on registers. Therefore, when a program is being executed, the computer operations are made up of a sequence of instruction cycles having one instruction of the machine in each cycle (Tanenbaum, 2016). Nevertheless, each cycle of instruction consists of several smaller units such as interrupt, indirect, execute, and fetch cycles. The cycles then involve a series of steps which then includes the registers of the processor. The small steps are, therefore, referred to as micro-operations where the prefix micro refers to the fact that every step is simple and it takes little effort to be accomplished (Furber, 2017).

Microarchitecture and Instruction Set Architecture

An Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) gets construed as a computer design from the perspective of the programmer. ISA describes and evaluates the design of a system regarding the basic operations which the computer must support. However, ISA is never concerned with specific details of the implementation of a computer; its only concern is with the collection or set of essential functions which the computer must support (Furber, 2017). For instance, the Core 2 Duo and the AMD Athlon processors always have different implementations, but they support a similar set of basic operations as depicted in the x86 set of instructions. Nonetheless, MIPS ISA, which is among the most widely used in ISAs education due to its simplicity, performs MIPS instructions. The instructions are then grouped into three types: (1) Logic or Arithmetic instructions which perform different logical and arithmetic operations on one or more operands.

(2) Data Transfer Instructions which are responsible for instructions transfer from the memory to the registers of the processor and vice versa, and (3) Branch and Jump Instructions which break the sequential instructions flow and jumping to instructions at different areas. The action is necessary for the implementation of conditional statements as well as functions (Tanenbaum, 2016). Moreover, each instruction type is defined at maximum length by the ISA since the MIPS is considered as a 32-bit ISA and the 32 bits must accommodate each instruction. ISA also defines each type of instruction format. The format of instructions, therefore, determines and analyzes how the whole set of instruction is encoded in the 32 bits which makes MIPS ISA give three types of instruction formats; the R, I, and J instruction format. The three instruction formats have varying encoding schemes of instruction, and therefore, they require different interpretation by the processor (Tanenbaum, 2016).

Computer Performance

Computer performance is regarded as the amount of task or work completed by a computer system. The term performance refers to "How efficient is the computer doing its assigned task?" The action, therefore, will depend on the execution time, the response time and the throughput of a computer system (Hodson, 2018). Response time is the time taken to complete a task which includes the overhead of the operating system, accessing the memory and disk, waiting for the input or output and other processes and the execution time or time spent while executing on the CPU. Throughput, on the other hand, is the overall task that is completed in a given period (Hodson, 2018). Also, the execution time of the CPU is the time taken for the CPU in computing on a given function. It also excludes the time for running other programs or the input and output which can also be referred to as the CPU time.

Performance, therefore, can be determined by the time of execution as the activity is inversely proportional to the execution time.

Formula is: Performance = (1/ Execution time)

And,

(Performance of A / Performance of B) = (the Execution time of B / Execution time of A)

Thus, if given that processor B works faster than processor A, it means that the execution time of B is less than that of A because the performance of B is greater than that of A (Hodson, 2018).

Proposal

My chosen topic is a microprogrammed control unit which is a relatively simple logic circuit which can generate control signals so that each microinstruction can be executed and to sequence via microinstructions.

I would want to research the topic as I have an interest in computer programming and how the computer systems operate. Also, my dream is always to be a computer programmer as I have been brought up in a family where every person values the work of a computer.

The question that I would like to answer is how coding and re-using in computer programming is conducted using different computer programs or names and the efforts taken in trying to minimize illegal computer hacking by a hacker through the encryption of codes that are of high security and notification in a case sensitive data has tampered.

The Methodology that I would use is Data Analysis as in numerous quantitative researches, statistical procedures that are established well are often used. Moreover, the efficiency of the chosen processes can be judged using two criteria. The first being whether the data and design outlined can meet the assumptions of the procedure and the second is if the chosen statistical process is among the powerful of the methods which are available and whose premises have been met.

References

Furber, S. B. (2017). VLSI RISC architecture and organization. Routledge. Retrieved from https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2006-0-11266-6&isbn=9781351405386&format=googlePreviewPdf

Hodson, R. F. (2018). Real-Time Expert Systems Computer Architecture: 0. CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351076203

Tanenbaum, A. S. (2016). Structured computer organization. Pearson Education India.