SINGLE-CHIP PROGRAMMABLE CONTROLLERS

Abstract: A microprogrammable controller function as a state ma­ chine, contained on a single integrated circuit chip with a lim­ ited number of input/output pins. This is accomplished by hav­ ing a microprogrammed on-chip memory; by having test inputs and external address inputs share a common set of input pins; by having an internal microinstruction field which includes an internal opcode subfield and internal immediate data/masking subfield; by having an internally shared address selection, branching, masking, and test logic. The on-chip memory has a pipelined output register, which has some of its tri-state out­ puts controlled by a control-bit from another one of the pipe­ lined register outputs. The controller also contains a reconfi­ gureable loop counter and stack register configuration as well as a program counter with a post-incrementer circuit.

Description: A state machine is a digital device which provides predetermined output logic states in response to certain input states. State machines have been designed using discrete digital logic gates and flip-flops. A design technique called microprogramming allows the logic gates and flip-flops to be replaced by memory elements such as ready-only memories (ROMs) and fuse programmable logic arrays (FPLAs). A microprogrammed control unit is a state machine which, in its simplest form includes only a read-only memory ROM and an address register. The address register supplies parallel addresses to the ROM address input terminals. The ROM stores a sequence of microinstruction code words, each having two fields. The first field is a control field which contains the control bits to be delivered to whatever external system is being controlled. Such an external system is, for example, the arithmetic logic unit ALU of a computer system. The second field of a microinstruction code word contains the next ROM address, that is the address for the next microinstruction code word. Microprogram controllers, sometimes called address sequencers, have evolved to replace the address register included in the above-described microprogrammed control unit. An address sequencer reduces the ROM memory size by eliminating the need for storage in the ROM of that part of a microinstruction code word which contains the next ROM address. The address register is replaced with an integrated circuit microprogram controller, or address sequencer, such as the Am2910 Microprogram Controller produced by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, California, which, for example, controls the execution sequence of the microinstructions stored in another integrated circuit, such as a ROM. In addition to providing sequential access to the appropriate ROM memory locations, the Am2910 can provide conditional branching to any one of 4096 microinstructions stored in the memory. For each microinstruction, the Am2910 provides a 12-bit address to an external microprogram memory from any one of four different sources: a microprogram address counter-register, an external input, a loop counter, and a stack register. Microprogram address sequencers such as the Am2910 described above are separately packaged integrated circuits which are combined with a number of other separately packaged memory devices, such as a ROM and a number of support and interface integrated circuits, to form a chip set which functions as a control unit for an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) of a computer system. Obviously, providing a multiple chip set by using a number of discrete integrated circuits results in a large number of integrated circuit pins which must be interconnected with printed circuit boards and the like with attendant production and utilization costs. These costs include the cost of the circuit board and design costs such as layout power for each integrated circuit, consumption of space within a system, handling, and the like. Clearly, elimination of a number of separate integrated circuit packages and integration of a state machine or microprocessor control unit on a single integrated circuit has many production and utilization benefits. The Am 2910 is described in the book "Computer Structures: Principles and Examples", D.P. Siwiorek et al, McGraw Hill, 1983, pages 205-215 as being the kernel of a programmable controller comprising: a programable microprogram memory, having an address input and an output for microinstruction words stored in the memory, each microinstruction word including an internal microinstruction field and a user-defined general purpose external output field, wherein the internal microinstruction field includes an internal opcode subfield and an internal immediate data/masking subfield; microaddress control logic, including a control logic multiplexer having a plurality of inputs and having an output coupled to the address input of the memory, the multiplexer having a first one of its plurality of inputs logically coupled to an external data input terminal, and the control logic receiving the said internal immediate data/masking subfield; and microinstruction decoder means having an opcode input coupled to and receiving the said opcode subfield for decoding instructions provided by the opcode subfield, and having a plurality of control outputs internally coupled to the microaddress control logic for controlling the operation thereof. US-A-4,434,465 discloses a microprogrammed controller in which a programmable microprogramme memory is integrated on a single chip. According to the present invention, there is provided an integrated programmable controller of the type disclosed in the aforesaid Siwiorek reference characterised as set out in claim 1. In one embodiment of the invention, the memory is fuse-programmable and includes a pipeline register coupled to its output. Further, at least one bit of the general purpose output field of the chip is preferably enabled with an output-enable bit of the internal microinstruction field. Additionally, the GOTO logic includes comparison logic means which provides an equal-to output when the masked version of the external data field is equal to an internally provided constant subfield supplied by the microprogram memory. Condition code selection logic is provided which shares a common input to the integrated circuit ship with the external test data input to the GOTO logic. The dual usage of one input permits the input pin count to be reduced. The condition code logic is controlled by an internal test condition select subfield of a microinstruction word to provide a select one of the inputs from the external test data inputs, a condition code input, and an equal-to input from the GOTO logic. The controller may include a reconfigurable loop counter/subroutine register arrangement which can be set up to provide a separate subroutine register, a separate counter, a two-deep stack register, and a two-deep nested counter. The control logic multiplexer, feeding the microprogram memory preferably has both a program counter input and an incremented program counter input. The fact that a number of the various fields and subfields are internally coupled on the single integrated chip provides for maximum functionality with a minimised number of integrated-circuit output pins. By way of example only, in the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a block diagram of a single-chip fuse programmable controller embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a diagram showing two microinstruction formats for the controller of Figure 1; Figures 3A and 3B together show a more detailed block diagram of the controller of Figure 1; Figure 4A is a circuit diagram of a GOTO logic circuit; Figure 4B is a logic circuit diagram of a test condition code selection logic circuit; Figure 5 is a pin-connection diagram for a single-chip integrated circuit controller embodying the invention. Fig. 1 shows a particular version of a preferred embodiment of programmable controller 10. The controller 10 is a single-chip integrated circuit and includes four elements: a microprogram memory 12, a microaddress control logic 14, a microinstruction decode circuit 16, and a condition code selection logic 18. In this preferred embodiment of the invention, the microprogram memory 12 is a fuse programmable memory containing user defined instructions. However, it should be appreciated that the memory 12 may include memories such as RAMs, read only memories ROMs, electrically programmable ROMs EPROMS, and electricly erasable EPROMs EEP Proms, and the like. The microaddress control logic 14 provides address inputs on a six bit address bus 20 to the microprogram memory 12. As described hereinbelow, the microaddress control logic 14 provides the controller 10 with functions such as conditional branching, subroutine calling and returning, looping, and multiway branching. The condition code selection logic 18 selects the appropriate test condition code and its polarity when a conditional microinstruction is to be executed. The microinstruction decode logic 16 provides appropriate control signals for elements of the control logic 14. MICROPROGRAM MEMORY The microprogram memory 12 is configured as a fuse programmable read only memory (PROM) which contains sixty-four microwords, each being 32 bits wide. The microprogram memory 12 includes a pipeline register 22 at its output. The pipeline register 22 contains the microword currently being executed, as designated by PL[31:0]. The microword format is shown below: Fig. 2 shows the general format for microinstructions. A one bit synchronous output enable control bit [SOE] is in bit position PL[31]. The next 15 bits of a microword in the pipeline register, PL[30:16] remain internal to the controller 10 designated as MINST[14:0] in Figure 2 to control address sequencing. Referring back to Fig. 1, the general format microinstruction field five-bit opcode subfield OPCODE[14:10] in MINST[14:10] is internally coupled to the microinstruction decoder 16 on a bus 24. A one-bit test polarity select subfield POL [9] in MINST[9] is internally coupled to the condition code select logic 18 on a bus 26. A three-bit test condition select subfield TEST[8:6] in MINST[8:6] is internally coupled to the condition code select logic 18 on a bus 28. A six-bit immediate data subfield DATA[5:0] or MASK[5:0] in MINST[5:0] is internally coupled to the microaddress control logic on a bus 30. As described hereinbelow, MINST[5:0] is used for branch addresses, test input masks and counter values. The advantages of internally coupling the MINST[14:0] field within the integrated circuit are numerous as compared to having separate integrated circuit packages linked by package pins and punted circuit wiring and the like. Still referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the lower 16 bits PL[15:0] of a microword are provided on the integrated circuit output pins as user-defined general purpose external control outputs C[15:0]. The upper eight external control outputs C[15:8] are provided on an eight-bit tristate bus 32 which is enabled by [SOE] on line 34. The lower eight external control outputs C[7:0] are provided on an output bus 36. The controller 10 provides 29 microinstructions. Various state machine configurations are created with the 29 microinstructions of this particular embodiment. The microinstruction set is orthogonal and has been optimized for parallel, multipath operations as well as for efficient utilization of microprogram memory. Twenty-eight of the microinstructions follow the general format described immediately above, using a single data field. As shown in Fig. 2, a special two-field comparison microinstruction format contains two data fields. WHERE: OPCODE(14:12) = Compare microinstruction (binary 100). CONSTANT(11:6) = A six-bit constant subfield for comparison. MASK(5:0) = A six-bit mask subfield for masking eternal data inputs. Referring to Fig. 1, the microinstruction subfields for the two-field comparison format includes an opcode subfield OPCODE (14:12) coupled on three lines of the bus 24 to the microinstrction decoder 16, a constant subfield CONSTANT (11:6) coupled on a bus 31 to an input of the microaddress control logic 14, and mask subfield MASK (5:0) coupled on bus 30 to an input of the microaddress control logic 14. In summary, the pipeline register 22 has a microinstruction word output PL[31:0] which includes a user defined general purpose external control output field PL[15:0], which has some tristate outputs internally controlled by PL[31], SOE, and an internal microinstruction output field PL[31:16]. The microinstruction field MINST [14:0] for the general format microinstruction includes subfields for an opcode, a condition code polarity select, a test condition select, and data. The two-field comparison microinstruction includes subfields for an opcode, a constant, and a mask. BLOCK DIAGRAM Figs. 3A and 3B, taken together, shows in more detail the elements of the fuse programmable controller 10. The major elements of the fuse programmable controller 10, as described hereinabove with reference to Fig. 1 and shown by broken lines in Fig. 3, are the microprogram memory 12 described hereinabove, the microaddress control logic 14, the microinstruction decode logic 16, and the condition code selection logic 18. As indicated, clock pulses are indicated by CP and a reset function by RESET, with Vcc and GND, respectively, representing a five-volt supply voltage and ground. Further details of the major elements in addition to the memory 12 are described as follows: MICROADDRESS CONTROL LOGIC Referring to Figs. 3A and 3B, the microaddress control logic 14 includes a program control logic multiplexer (PCMUX) 50, a microprogram address counter 52, a post incrementer 54 for the microprogram address counter 52, a stack register circuit 56, a loop counter circuit 58, and a GOTO logic circuit 60, including a compare logic circuit 62. PROGRAM CONTROL LOGIC MULTIPLEXER-PC MUX : The program control logic multiplexer 50 (PC MUX) is a six-bit wide, four-to-one multiplexer which has its output coupled on the six-bit address bus 20 to the address input of the microprogram memory 12. The program control logic multiplexer 50 has a plurality of inputs. In this particular embodiment of the invention, there are four inputs provided as follows: a bus 70 is coupled to the output of the microprogram address counter 52, a bus 72 is coupled to the output of the microprogram address post incrementer 54, a bus 74 is coupled to the output of the stack register circuit 56, and a bus 76 is coupled to the output of the GOTO logic 60. The six-bit address bus 20 from the output of the program control logic multiplexer 50, which is connected to the input of the microprogram address counter 52, permits the microprogram address counter 52 to contain the microaddress of the microinstruction, which is simultaneously being held in the pipeline register 30. Note that during a reset condition, the output of the program control logic multiplexer 50 is set to an all ones condition which selects the uppermost memory location, 63, of the microprogram memory 12 as the next microinstruction location. MICROPROGRAM ADDRESS COUNTER AND POST INCREMENTER : The microprogram address counter 52 is a six-bit D-type rising-edge triggered register which provides an output on bus 70 to one input of the program control logic multiplexer 50 and to the input of the microprogram address counter post incrementer 54, which is a six-bit combinatorial incrementer circuit. The post incrementer circuit 54 has its output coupled to the bus 72 which feeds another input of the program control logic multiplexer 50 and which also feeds an input of the stack register circuit 56. Since both the output of the microprogram address counter 52 and the output of the address post incrementer circuit 54 are inputs to the program control logic multiplexer 50, both the present value of the microprogram address and an incremented value of the program address from the microprogram address counter 52 are available as possible microaddress inputs to the microprogram memory 12. The output of the post incrementer circuit 54 is available for pushing subroutine return addresses into the stack register circuit 56. The present program address count value provided by the microprogram address counter 52 is used, for example, to provide timing or waiting functions in which the same microinstruction is repeatedly re-fetched prior to occurrence of a valid condition in order to efficiently use microprogram memory space. Using the output of the post incrementer circuit 54 allows sequential microprogram operation, for example, with unconditional microinstructions and also provides a default address for conditional microinstructions. STACK REGISTER : The stack register circuit 56 and the loop counter circuit 58 together form a reconfigurable counter/stack arrangement which can be treated as one logic block because of the unique interaction between the counter and the stack elements. Configuration control is accomplished by selection of various multiplexer paths and the GOTO logic 60. Taken alone, the stack register circuit 56, includes a six-bit wide, three-to-one stack register multiplexer SMUX 80 which has an output bus 82 coupled to the input of a stack, or subroutine, register SREG 84 which is a six-bit D-type rising-edge triggered register. The output of the stack register 84 is coupled by respective branches of the bus 74 to one of the inputs of the program program control logic multiplexer 50 and back to another input of the stack register multiplexer 80. Note that the bus 74 is also coupled to the loop counter circuit 58. Normal operation of the stack register circuit 56 is as a one-deep stack for saving subroutine return addresses using the microprogram counter post incrementer 54 as the source of the address and the program control logic multiplexer 50 as the address destination when returns from subroutines are performed. LOOP COUNTER : Taken alone, the loop counter circuit 58 includes a loop counter multiplexer CMUX 90 which is a six-bit wide, four-to-one multiplexer having an output bus 92 coupled to the input of a six-bit D-type rising-edge triggered loop counter 94 which has its output provided on respective branches of an output bus 96 to the inputs of four circuits. One of these inputs is a third input to the stack register multiplexer SMUX 80 and another input is an input to a zero detection circuit 98. The loop counter output bus 96 is connected to another input of the loop counter multiplexer CMUX 90 and also to an input of a six-bit wide combinatorial decrementer 100, which has its output coupled on a bus 102 to a third input of the loop counter multiplexer CMUX 92. The loop counter multiplexer CMUX 90 has a fourth input coupled to a branch of the bus 76 connecting the output of the GOTO logic 60 to the input of the program control logic multiplexer 50. The loop counter multiplexer CMUX 90 selects one of four possible inputs for the loop counter 94, that is, the output of the branch control logic 60, the decrementer 100, the stack register circuit 56, and the loop counter 94 itself. The loop counter 94 is typically used for timing functions and for iterative loop counting. Initial count values are provided from the GOTO logic 60 and are decremented by the loop counter 94 until a zero count is achieved at which time the zero detection circuit 98 provides an output signal on a bus 104 which is fed to an input of the microinstruction decode logic circuit 16. When a zero count is detected, a logical LOW is also provided on another output bus 106 of the zero detection circuit connected to an inverted ZERO output terminal pin 108 of the integrated circuit. STACK REGISTER AND LOOP COUNTER TOGETHER : Taken together, the stack register circuit 56 and the loop counter circuit 58 can interact by having the output of each be an input for the other. The loop counter output bus 96 is coupled to an input of the stack register multiplexer 80, while the output bus 74 of the stack register circuit 56 is coupled to an input of the loop counter multiplexer 90. This arrangement permits the loop counter 94 to serve as an additional stack location for the stack register circuit 56 not being used for counting. This arrangement also permits the stack register circuit 56 to be part of a nested counter when not being used as a stack register. Thus, the stack register circuit 56 and a loop counter circuit 58 operate in three different modes: as a separate one-deep stack and a separate counter, as a two-deep stack, and as a two-deep nested counter. GOTO LOGIC : The GOTO logic circuit 60 has an input to which is coupled a external-data test bus 110 from the integrated circuit test/data input terminals 112. The GOTO logic 60 has another input provided on the internal-data/mask bus 30. Data on the test/external-data bus 110 is indicated as T[5:0]. Data on the internal-data/mask bus 30 is designated DATA[5:0] or MASK[5:0]. When any type of conditional branch function is being executed, the output of the GOTO logic 60 is coupled on data bus 76 to an input of the program control logic multiplexer 50. When a count value is to be loaded into the loop counter circuit 58, the GOTO logic 60 output is coupled through a branch of the bus 76 to an input of the loop counter multiplexer 90 as previously discussed. Referring to Fig. 4A, a schematic logic circuit diagram of the GOTO logic circuit 60 is shown. The test/data bus 110 is shown having the test signals T[5:0] on respective lines thereof. The data/mask bus 30 is shown having DATA[5:0] or MASK(5:0) subfields thereon. Bus 31 has the subfield CONSTANT [11:6] thereon. The branch control logic for a representative bit line is a number of groups AND gates typically represented as 200, 201, 202 having normal and inverted inputs and having outputs fed to the inputs of a typical OR gate 204. The OR gate 204 output G5 is one of the bits which the GOTO logic 60 provides on bus 76. The inputs to the AND gates 200, 201, 202 are the TEST[5:0] inputs and the DATA[5:0]/MASK(5:0) inputs which are selected by the GTM and GTP inputs from the microinstruction decoder 16. The logic circuit for the COMPARE LOGIC 62 is typically shown in Figure 4A for a representative bit line as an EXCLUSIVE-OR gate having the GOTO logic output G5 at one input terminal and one bit of the CONSTANT [11:6] input and a second input terminal. The various outputs of the other EXCLUSIVE-OR gates are inputted to the OR-gate 208 which provides an inverted EQ output. Two types of outputs from the GOTO logic 60 are possible. In one, the DATA[5:0] subfield passes directly through. Branching and loading from the DATA[5:0] subfield is an immediate operation which stays internal to the integrated circuit. In the other type of output from the GOTO logic 60, the T[5:0] input is under bitwise mask from the MASK[5:0] input to give a T*M function. Branching and loading using the T*M mode of operation allows off-chip, that is, external, microaddress and count values to be used, while also providing for multiway branching capablities. For example, a one-of-eight multiway branch is generated by setting MASK[5:3] to zero, which masks off the upper three T inputs, and by setting MASK[2:0] to all ones. This passes the lower three T inputs. A branch to one of the first eight microprogram locations occurs depending upon the condition of the lower T inputs. For example, if all three lower T inputs are zero, a branch to memory 12 location zero occurs. The GOTO logic 60 also has a special six-bit wide comparison logic function using MINST[11:6] (CONSTANT) as an additional input from microcode and also has an equal-to (EQ) output that is inputted to a D-type rising-edge triggered flip-flop which sets an EQ flag output coupled to the condition code selection logic if T*M is equal to the CONSTANT value and is unaffected if no equality occurs. This allows multiple tests of any group of T inputs to be obtained in a manner analagous to a sum-of-products function where the EQ flag is set if any of the tests are true. The EQ flag is reset when any type of conditional branch occurs or when the RESET input is low. CONDITION CODE SELECTION LOGIC The condition code selection logic 18 includes an eight-to-one multiplexer having an output coupled to one input of an exclusive-or gate 120 having true and complement outputs coupled to the microinstruction decode circuit 16. Eight input bits are fed to the condition code selection logic 18, these include the EQ flag, the condition code input CC, and the six test input bits T[5:0]. Selection of which one of the eight conditions is to be tested, is by TEST[2:0] where: TEST[2:0] BIT UNDER TEST 000 T[0] 001 T[1] 010 T[2] 011 T[3] 100 T[4] 101 T[5] 110 CC 111 EQ Selection of the test polarity of the condition code selection logic 18 is obtained with an exclusive-or gate 120 is controlled by POL [9] which is used as the other input to the exclusive-or gate 120. When POL [9], which is high, the false version of the selected test condition is an input to the microinstruction decode circuit 16. When POL [9] is low, the true version of the selected test condition is an input to the microinstruction decode circuit 16. Referring to Figure 4B, a schematic logic circuit for the test condition code select logic 18 is shown. The circuit includes eight inverted-input AND gates, typically represented as 210, each of which has one of the inverted external test inputs T[5:0] , the inverted condition code cc, or the QEQ bits connected to an input thereof. Inverted and non-inverted versions of the TEST[8:6] bits (I6, I7, I8) are connected to the other inputs of the AND gates, typically represented as 210. The outputs of the AND gates are fed to the inputs of an OR gate 212 which has its output coupled to one input of a polarity-select EXCLUSIVE-OR gate 214. The other input of gate 120 is connected to I9, the POL[9] input. The inverted and non-inverted outputs of gate 120 are inputted to the microinstruction decoder 16 as the selected test condition bit. Note that the T[5:0] inputs to the Test Conditions Code Select Logic 18, represented in Figure 4B, and the GOTO logic 60, represented in Figure 4A, share come terminals as indicated by (a)-(f). This sharing saves, in this example, six input pins. MICROINSTRUCTION DECODE Referring to Fig. 3B, the microinstruction decode logic 16 is a programmed logic array which provides the control signals GTP, GTM, CSG, CSD, CSS, SSC, SSI, PSG, PSS, PSP appropriately control the functioning of the multiplexers 50,80,90 and the GOTO logic 60 of the microaddress control logic circuit 14 for each of its twenty-nine different microinstructions. The various inputs to the microinstruction decode logic circuit 16 include the OPCODE [14:10], the zero detection circuit 98 output for the loop counter 94, and the selected test condition code from the conditional code selection logic 18. The respective outputs of the microinstruction decode logic circuit control the PCMUX (PSG, PSS, PSP), the stack register SMUX 80 (SSC, SSI) stack register, the loop counter CMUX 90 (CSG, CSD, CSS), and the GOTO logic 60 (GTP, GTM). MICROINSTRUCTION SET DEFINITIONS The instruction set forth below permits implementation of a microinstruction set to obtain conditional branching, conditional subroutine calling, conditional returns, conditional loop counting, multiway branching, timing and waveform generation, conditional holding, field comparison, conditional load counting, and conditional pushing. SINGLE CHIP CONCEPT Fig. 5 shows a pin connection diagram for a 28 pin single-chip integrated circuit according to the invention. The T[5:0] pins are shared pins for test data and external adress data. CC The condition code test input. When the TEST[2:0] field in the microinstruction being executed is set to 6 (binary 110), CC is selected as the test condition that controls conditional operation. CLK The clock input is a rising-edge triggered common clock for the microprogram counter, counter, subroutine register, pipeline register, and EQ flag. C[15:8] The upper eight general purpose microprogram control outputs. These eight control outputs are synchronously enabled by the SOE[31] signal from the MSB of the microprogram pipeline register. When SOE[31] is HIGH, C[15:8] are enabled and when LOW the outputs are tri-stated. C[7:0] The lower eight general purpose microprogram control outputs. These eight control outputs are permanently enabled. RESET The reset input. When /RESET is LOW, the uppermost microprogram address of 63 is generated causing the microprogram counter to be set to 63 and the microinstruction at 63 to be loaded into the pipeline register following the next clock pulse. The EQ flag is also cleared on the same clock pulse. T[5:0] The six test inputs. In conditional microinstructions the T[5:0] inputs can be used as individual condition codes under selection of the TEST[2:0] field in the pipeline register. The T[5:0] inputs can also be used as a microbranch address when performing a microprogram branch, and a count value when loading the counter. ZERO The zero output. The /ZERO output, when LOW, indicates the counter value is zero. FUSE PROGRAMMING The microprogram memory 12 of this preferred embodiment is programmed and verified with techniques like those used for programmable logic arrays. An embodiment of the invention is contained in the Am29PL141 provided by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. of Sunnyvale, California. The memory array of the microprogram memory 12 is organized as a sixty-four word by 32-bit PROM. Individual fuses for a bit cell to be programmed are selected by successively selecting one of sixty-four word addresses, one of four bytes at that address, and one of eight bits in that particular byte. Control of programming and verification is attained by application of the sequence of voltages, in this case, on the control pins 9 and 10 of Fig. 5. An address to be programmed is selected using the T[5:0] inputs, pins 2 - 7. The byte addressing is done using C[7] and C[6]. The bit selection is done using a 20 volt programming voltage applied to each of the output pins, one at a time. Programming is initiated by raising pin 10 to about 20 volts, which places the device in the program mode and disables the output pins. The next step is to address the particular fuse to be programmed as stated previously. Raising pin 9 to about 20 volts initiates programming and removing the programming voltage from each of the bit outputs terminates programming.

Claims: An integrated programmable controller comprising: a programable microprogram memory (12), having an address input and an output for microinstruction words stored in said memory, each microinstruction word including an internal microinstruction field and a user-defined general purpose external output field, wherein the internal microinstruction field includes an internal opcode subfield and an internal immediate data/masking subfield; microaddress control logic (14), including a control logic multiplexer (50) having a plurality of inputs and having an output coupled to the address input of said memory (12), said multiplexer (50) having a first one of its plurality of inputs logically coupled to an external data input terminal (112) of said controller, and said control logic (14) receiving the said internal immediate data/masking subfield; and microinstruction decoder means (16) having an opcode input coupled to and receiving the said opcode subfield for decoding instructions provided by the opcode subfield, and having a plurality of control outputs (PSP, PSS, ...) internally coupled to said microaddress control logic for controlling the operation thereof; characterised in that the controller is on a single integrated circuit chip and said microaddress control logic (14) includes GOTO logic (60) having a GOTO output (76) coupled to said first one of the plurality of inputs of the control logic multiplexer (50), and having an immediate-data/masking input (30) coupled to said internal immediate-data/masking subfield and including means such that the internal immediate data/masking subfield and the external data input from said terminal (112) are selectively provided at the GOTO output, the GOTO logic further including means for bitwise masking said external data input with the internal immediate data/masking subfield to provide a masked version of the external data field at said GOTO output. A controller according to claim 1 wherein the programmable microprogram memory (12) is a fuse-programmable memory. A controller according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the programmable microprogram memory (12) includes a pipeline register (PL) internally coupled in series with the output for the microinstruction words stored in the memory. A controller according to claim 3 wherein the internal microinstruction field of a memory microinstruction word includes an output-enable bit, and wherein the pipeline register (PL) includes means for internally enabling at least one predetermined bit of the user-defined general purpose external output field, the means for enabling being activated by the said output-enable bit to externally provide at least one predetermined bit of the user-defined general purpose external output field. A controller according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the internal microinstruction field includes an internal constant subfield; and wherein the GOTO logic (60) includes comparison logic means (62) having an input (31) coupled to the internal constant subfield, an input coupled to the GOTO output, and an equal-to output at which is present an equal-to (EQ) signal when the masked version of the external data field is equal to the internal constant subfield. A controller according to claim 5 further including: a condition code selection logic (18) having an output coupled to a condition code input of the microinstruction decoder means (16); the condition code selection logic (18) having an input coupled to an internal test condition select subfield of the microinstruction word; and having an external test data input coupled to the external data input (110) of the GOTO logic (60) such that both the external test data input and the external data input of the GOTO logic share a common input to the integrated circuit chip, the condition code selection logic (18) being controlled by the internal test condition select subfield of a microinstruction word to select and provide at its output a selected bit of the external test data input. A controller according to claim 6 wherein the condition code selection logic (18) has a condition code CC input and an equal-to input coupled to the equal-to output of the comparison logic (62) of the GOTO logic (60); the condition code selection logic being controlled by the internal test condition select subfield of a microinstruction word to select and provide at its output a selected one of the external test data, the condition code CC, and the equal-to inputs. A controller according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the microaddress control logic (14) includes a reconfigureable loop counter/subroutine register arrangement comprising: a loop counter (94) having an input and an output; a loop counter input multiplexer (90) having an output (92) coupled to the input of the loop counter (94), the loop counter input multiplexer having a first input logically coupled to the external data input terminal (112) and also coupled to the said first one of the inputs of the control logic multiplexer (50), a second input coupled to the output of a means (100) for decrementing the count of the loop counter output, and a third input coupled to the output of the loop counter (94) and to an input of the decrementing means (100); a subroutine register (84) having a data input and an output, which is coupled to a fourth input to the loop counter input multiplexer (90) and which is coupled to an input of the control logic multiplexer (50); a subroutine register input multiplexer (80) having an output coupled to the data input of the subroutine register (84), one input coupled to the loop counter output and another input coupled to the output of the subroutine register; and the subroutine register input multiplexer and the loop counter input multiplexer being controlled by some of the plurality of control outputs from the microinstruction decoder means (16) to configure the loop counter/subroutine register in a number of operational arrangements including a separate stack register, a separate counter, a two-deep stack register, and a two-deep nested counter. A controller according to claim 8 wherein the microaddress control logic (14) include: a program counter (52) having an address input coupled to the output of the control logic multiplexer (50), and an output coupled to a program count input of the control logic multiplexer; and incrementing means (54) for providing an incremented value of the program counter, the incrementing means having an input coupled to the output of the program counter (52), an output coupled to the incremented program count input of the control logic multiplexer (50), and an output coupled to an incremented-program-count input of the subroutine register input multiplexer (80).

Inventors: KITSON, BRADFORD, S., MILLER, WARREN K.
Applicants: ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G06F9
IPC codes: G06F9