Re:An introduction to reverse-engineering x86 microcode and ...
by pfalcon on Friday December 29, 2017 @05:43PM
(#16032539)
You must be kidding. Normal CPU architectures - the RISC ones - don't have funny things like "microcode" (well, true RISCs don't have it for sure). Majority of CPU architectures nowadays are RISCs. Some legacy ones, like x86, are CISC-translated-to-RISC, as this presentation shows. The native RISC code in them is called "microcode".
Re:An introduction to reverse-engineering x86 microcode and ...
by bogomipz on Saturday December 30, 2017 @11:18AM
(#16035844)
Oh yes I was just kidding.
Can we assume you must be kidding too when you use the phrase "Normal CPU architectures"?
Re:An introduction to reverse-engineering x86 microcode and ...
by userbinator on Friday December 29, 2017 @12:06PM
(#16030438)
It's a combination of microcode and hardwired logic that's common now --- hardwired simple instructions, microcoded complex ones.
Re:An introduction to reverse-engineering x86 microcode and ...
by bogomipz on Friday December 29, 2017 @03:45PM
(#16031861)
In the slide during the presentation at the 10:23 minute mark he shows the short decoders under the instruction register and I believe even those simple instructions are all made up of micro-ops that need to be looked up in ROM as well.
They are default the now though. As far as I know hardwired control logic wasn't used for very long before people moved to using microcode. Maybe I am misunderstanding that part of your comment?