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Towards a family of languages for the design and implementation of machine architectures

Authors:

Subrata Dasgupta,

Marius OlafssonAuthors Info & Claims

ISCA '82: Proceedings of the 9th annual symposium on Computer Architecture

Pages 158 - 167

Published: 01 April 1982 Publication History

Abstract

In recent years, increases in complexity of hardware/firmware systems, and the concern for systems reliability have resulted in growing interest in methodologies and tools for the design, description and verification of computer systems. A vital component of any such design methodology is the language used for representing the design. In the case of particularly complex systems the design process may involve a succession of stages each of which represents the system at a particular level of abstraction. In such situations several languages may be required, each suited to a particular level of abstraction.

We present here, one such family of languages, consisting at present of two members, S*A, an architectural description language, and S*, a high level microprogramming language schema. These closely related (“kin”) languages may be used collaboratively for the systematic, top-down development of an architecture, down to the microcode level. The resulting descriptions of the architecture provide, in addition, a complete unified document of the multilevel design process.

References

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Barbacci, M. R., "A Comparison of Register Transfer Languages for Describing Computers and Digital Systems", IEEE Trans. Comput., C-24, 2, Feb 1975 137-150.

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Brinch-Hansen, P.,"The Architecture of Concurrent Programs", Prentice Hall, N.J., 1977.

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Dasgupta, S., "Towards a Microprogramming Language Schema"Proc. 11th Annual Workshop on Microprogramming (MICRO 11), IEEE, N.Y., Nov. 1978, 144-153.

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Dasgupta, S. "Some Aspects of High Level Microprogramming"ACM Computing Surveys, 12(3), Sept. 1980, 295-324.

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Dasgupta, S. "S*A: A Language for Describing Computer Architectures"Proc. 5th Intl. Conf. on Computer Hardware Description Languages, and their Applications, North Holland, Amsterdam, Sept. 1981.

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Klassen, A., S. Dasgupta "The Syntax and Semantics of the High Level Microprogramming Language S*(QM-1)", Tech. Rept. TR81-3, Dept. of Computing Science, Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, June 1981.

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Klassen, A., S. Dasgupta "S(QM-1): An Instantiation of the High-Level Microprogramming Language Schema S for the Nanodata QM-1"Proc. 14th Annual Workshop on Microprogramming, (MICRO 14), IEEE, N.Y., Nov 1981, 124-130.

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Olafsson, M., S. Dasgupta, "Syntax and Semantics of the Architectural Description Language S*A", Tech. Rept. TR81-6, Dept. of Computing Science, Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, June 1981.

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Olafsson, M., "The QM-C: A Microprogrammed C-oriented Instruction-Set Architecture for the Nanodata QM-1"M.Sc. Thesis, Univ. of Alberta, 1981.

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Cited By

Dasgupta S(2019)On the verification of computer architectures using an architecture description languageACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News10.1145/1067651.80163511:3(32-38)Online publication date: 2-Jul-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1067651.801635
Dasgupta SLawson HAgerwala THeilborn HAiso HThorelli LBaer JTokoro M(1983)On the verification of computer architectures using an architecture description languageProceedings of the 10th annual international symposium on Computer architecture10.1145/800046.801635(32-38)Online publication date: 13-Jun-1983
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/800046.801635
Nixon JSchach SWinner RHabib S(1986)A microarchitecture description language for retargeting firmware toolsProceedings of the 19th annual workshop on Microprogramming10.1145/19551.19535(34-43)Online publication date: 1-Dec-1986
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/19551.19535
Show More Cited By

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Towards a family of languages for the design and implementation of machine architectures

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

ISCA '82: Proceedings of the 9th annual symposium on Computer Architecture

April 1982

335 pages

ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News Volume 10, Issue 3
April 1982
307 pages
ISSN:0163-5964
DOI:10.1145/1067649
Issue’s Table of Contents

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SIGARCH: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Architecture
IEEE-CS: Computer Society

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IEEE Computer Society Press

Washington, DC, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 April 1982

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Overall Acceptance Rate 543 of 3,203 submissions, 17%

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Cited By

Dasgupta S(2019)On the verification of computer architectures using an architecture description languageACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News10.1145/1067651.80163511:3(32-38)Online publication date: 2-Jul-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1067651.801635
Dasgupta SLawson HAgerwala THeilborn HAiso HThorelli LBaer JTokoro M(1983)On the verification of computer architectures using an architecture description languageProceedings of the 10th annual international symposium on Computer architecture10.1145/800046.801635(32-38)Online publication date: 13-Jun-1983
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/800046.801635
Nixon JSchach SWinner RHabib S(1986)A microarchitecture description language for retargeting firmware toolsProceedings of the 19th annual workshop on Microprogramming10.1145/19551.19535(34-43)Online publication date: 1-Dec-1986
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/19551.19535
Nixon JSchach SWinner R(1986)A microarchitecture description language for retargeting firmware toolsACM SIGMICRO Newsletter10.1145/19530.1953517:4(34-43)Online publication date: 1-Dec-1986
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/19530.19535
Dasgupta SShriver B(1985)Developments In Firmware EngineeringAdvances in Computers Volume 2410.1016/S0065-2458(08)60366-6(101-176)Online publication date: 1985
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2458(08)60366-6
Dasgupta SWagner A(1984)The use of hoare logic in the verification of horizontal microprogramsInternational Journal of Computer & Information Sciences10.1007/BF0098582313:6(461-490)Online publication date: Dec-1984
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00985823

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