Patent ID: 7663957

Claim:
A microprocessor including re-writeable non-volatile state (RNS) that is addressable by an instruction executed by the microprocessor that instructs the microprocessor to write a new value to the RNS, the microprocessor comprising: a plurality of fuses, each readable by the microprocessor to determine whether the fuse is blown or unblown, in response to the microprocessor decoding the instruction, wherein each of the plurality of fuses provides a first Boolean value when read if blown and a second Boolean value when read if unblown, wherein the plurality of fuses are initially unblown; a Boolean logic unit, coupled to the plurality of fuses, configured to perform Boolean operations on the values read from the plurality of fuses in order to determine a current value of the RNS; and a fuse blowing device, coupled to the plurality of fuses, configured to blow at least one unblown fuse of the plurality of fuses to change the current value of the RNS to the new value specified by the instruction when the new value is different than the current value of the RNS; wherein the microprocessor is configured to read the plurality of fuses, perform the Boolean operations, and blow at least one unblown fuse to change the current value of the RNS to a new value multiple times in response to a program running on the microprocessor executing the instruction multiple times.